Drawing Days
by aisha12894
Summary: Haru has been called back within Japan borders although she tried to escape for a new world. Who did she bring along with her? Why has her past left one guardian in particularly still hurting? Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

The intense bright rays beam down on a traditional wooden Japanese style mansion that includes two koi ponds, a stone pathway and a large thick wooden wall the encompasses the entire vicinity.

A young man, approximately twenty-two or a year older was adorn in a black male kimono, occupies a seat behind a dark Oak office desk.

"Come on in Gokudera-kun." The man orders before the door opens and closes behind an individual.

A young man with short silver hair and light green eyes clad in a black suit with a red dress shirt and a black tie.

"Tenth...I got here as fast as I could when you called for me! Is there something wrong?" The young man by the name of Hayato Gokudera inquires about his abrupt summons to the Vongola's headquarters.

He hunkers down in an empty seat as he stares at the male with orange spiky hair and brown eyes, who sits in front of him.

Hayato eyes a silver chain similar to the one around his own neck that displays his boss respective Vongola ring.

After all, the man before him had earned the title of Tenth after he completed a series of trails that proved his right to carry the Vongola's name on his shoulders.

"The reason why I had called you here is because there is a favor or better yet a long term assignment that I am going to give to you. The mission will only end until I terminate the order." The man with the title Tenth speaks.

'_I wonder what could it be? A long term assignment?' _Hayato quietly ponders when he eventually overhears the sound of the bamboo repeatedly smacks against the rocks.

"If the Tenth has specifically requested me for a particular job then I will do it. What is it?" Hayato inquires about the details of the mission that the Tenth wants him to complete.

The Tenth opens his eyes before he voices, "I need for you to be on security detail for one of our close family member. You should be quite familiar with her."

'_It's a woman. I should know her.' _he thinks after he listens to what the Tenth tells him.

"It seems as if this particular family member has recently received death threats, which has ultimately forced her to come back home for safety measures."

"The distance is absolutely too far for me to deploy one of my guardians that would handicap us in some type of fashion on the home front."

"So I chose you for this task because I can wholeheartedly trust that you will make the necessary decisions for them."

"Do you accept the offer?" the man with the title Tenth poses about Hayato's decision.

Hayato did not show any signs of hesitation when he answers the question, "Yes, I will do it for the Tenth!"

He glances at the alarm clock that graces the surface of his desk to check the time when he discloses, "She's due to arrive in Japan about twenty minutes.

"Try not to become tense if you don't immediately recognize her but she will instantly notice you." The Tenth warns him as he wraps up their meeting.

Hayato bows his head out of respect and offers good parting words to his boss.

'_This mission is for your own good, Gokureda-kun, forgive me for doing this to you.' _The Tenth concludes after he watches his most trusted friend exits his office space.

0000

_'I was not aware that one of our closest family members was being subjected to death threats.'_

'_Who in there right mind would be stupid enough to even try the Vongola family?"_

Hayato gathers his thoughts when he drives up to a red traffic light and the rings that graces his right hand captures his sights.

'_Defeat the enemy with a relentless stream of attacks that never falters. Always at the center of an attack. The furious storm that never rests.' _

"Honk" "Honk" The noise of blaring car's horns bring him out of his deep thoughts when he notices that light was now green.

'_I wonder why I thought about that all of a sudden?' _He ponders to himself before he veers in the airport parking lot.

0000

"Tsuna-kun," a woman with long orange hair and brown eyes, who bore an orange and yellow kimono calls out to the man with the male black kimono and orange shirt underneath.

The man named Tsuna clears his throat in order to adjusts his tone after he sees the woman materalizes in front of him.

"Yes, what is Kyoko-chan?" he politely addresses the woman by her given name.

"Why didn't you tell Gokudera-kun about who he has to pick up from the airport? You know how he feels about surprises." The woman named Kyoko inquired about her husband's plan.

Tsuna yawns before he rubs his eyes and explains, "Sooner or later he's going to find out, besides I really don't think he would be _that_ upset."

"I do hope you know what you are doing. I just want everyone to be together again like when we were younger." She expresses her thoughts after she takes a seat next to Tsuna.

He encloses her within his arms, drags her near him, and rests his chin at the crown of her head.

"Same here, same here," He utters to his wife as he tightens his hold around her petite waist.

0000

'_Where is this person_?_' _Hayato stews to himself while he tries not to draw too much attention to himself but just enough so that whoever the Tenth orders him to pick up will notice him.

He stands amongst a row of people with signs and whiteboards display to the waves of fliers in order to ensnare their respective individual's attention.

'_Ugh...I swear being the top Mafioso family is hard work!'_

_'I freaking need a sign or something or did they just walk pass me.' _He was so deep in thought that he did not notice someone draw near him.

"Gokudera-kun?" a feminine voice politely asks.

'_Wait a minute...that voice? It must be someone I know in order for them to use that surname.' _He deduces with one of his hands over his eyes due to his previous frustrations.

"Mommy, who is this?" a little child's voice rings in his ear before he wills himself to remove his hands from in front of his face to see who it was.

He lays his eyes on a beautiful young woman with medium length brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was not too pale and not too tan with minimal makeup on her face. She stands about three or four inches shorter than him.

She wears a light brown floppy straw hat, dark blue ankle length sundress with two triangle straps that crosses in the back, a brown shoulder bag, and brown ankle length Gladiator sandalsadorns her feet.

The only thing that he can utter from his mouth was her name, "_Haru-chan_?"

Before the woman name Haru answers his question, the sound of the child by her side catches his attention, "Mommy, whose this?"

Hayato peers down to see a little girl with brown hair that was similar to Haru's hair. Her eyes were a brownish-green hue that somewhat favors his eyes. She wears a blue overall suit, a pink shirt with brown baby sandals.

Haru squats until she was eye level with her daughter and explains, "This is an old friend of your mommy's. He is going to take us to go see Uncle Tsuna and Aunt Kyoko, wouldn't you like that?"

He tries to process the fact that his assignment was to protect Haru and this little girl, who just calls her "_mommy_".

He unknowingly stares at the toddler until she finally faces him and eventually flashes what he assumes was a glare.

Haru rises to her normal height while she pulls the little girl up on to her waist with her firm hold around her little girl's waist, "We're ready to go whenever you are."

'_I really need a smoke after this kind of encounter!' _He inwardly proclaims to himself as his need for nicotine skyrocketed after he first saw her face.

_'...but it seems as if she has matured from the last time I saw her.' _He conceives but instead it comes out like this, "Do you have your luggage already?"

Her mouth forms an "o" shape as her free hand rests on top of her hat and discloses, "Hahi, I almost forgot about that! Haru forgot about the luggage."

Hayato rejects his previous thought and corrects it, _'Well not everything…'_

"Come on, we don't want to keep the Tenth waiting now do we?" Hayato asks more towards himself then the two females that walks in front of him.

'_I wonder why the Tenth didn't tell me that I was going to be picking up Haru and…her daughter.'_

0000

"Shush, I hear them." Kyoko quietly shushes the crowd before Hayato grumpily complains about how dark the room is and eventually flips on the lights.

"Surprise!" came the shouts of happiness, as well as mountains if confetti, and of course the scaredness from all three of them, yes even Hayato Gokuerda was shocked.

"Haru-chan," Kyoko loudly exclaims once she finally spots her best friend.

"Kyoko-chan," the darker haired friend returns the gesture and encloses the woman in a tight hug that last more then five seconds.

"Your hair grew longer!" Kyoko compliments Haru, whose hands were pratically glued onto the younger female to her left.

Hayato observes Haru touches her hair with one of her hands before she settles it on one of her shoulders, "Mines, it seems as if _you_ grew your hair out."

Kyoko did not verbally responds to the question but instead she physically nods her head.

"So this must be Chiharu, that I have heard so much about! How are you Cihiharu-chan?" Kyoko asks after she squats to the little girl's height.

The little girl was not bashful whatsoever and even stares Kyoko dead in the face before she replies with, "Good."

Kyoko brings her hands to her checks, shakes her head and exasperates "She is so _adorable_!"

Tsuna witnessed his wife was the first to greet their guests since they were best friends and the first one she solidified amongst the craziness of the Mafia's world.

He approached after he realized that she indeed brought _her_ along with her and a smile apparent on his face.

"I'm glad that you decided to come back, Haru-chan. It's a lot easier knowing that you are within the country with Chiharu-chan." Tsuna greets them with a warm smile evident on his face.

'_So she was the one receiving the death threats? Where was she when it happened?' _he wonders as a sense of concern rushes through his body for Haru and her child.

Haru tilts her head to the side with a small smile on her face and responds, "I know that Tsuna-san is a tough boss to beat! I had a feeling that you were going to ask us to come back. Chiharu and I are forever grateful to have someone like you."

Hayato overhears the "-san" after Tsuna's name, which would have sounded a bit odd to him a while back. It was not until he remembered that _he_ was the cause of the honorific change as it brought a small yet unnoticed smile on to his face.

Tsuna peers up to see that Hayato zones out again. "Come in and meet everyone! They are just dying to see you, Haru-chan!"

"Hahi, you went all out for Haru, Kyoko-chan?" Haru rhetorically asks with visible shock on her face.

"Of course Haru-chan, you are family, and family looks out for family." Kyoko reminds her of her important position within the Vongola family.

Hayato hangs back as Kyoko chats away with the guests of honor, he watches as Tsuna searches for signs of Haru's true feelings about her sudden decision to move back to Japan.

"Come on, we don't want to keep the others waiting now do we?" Kyoko inquires when she clutches Haru's other hand and guides her into the living room.

Tsuna faces Hayato, "I know you will keep a close eye on her, after all you are my right hand man."

His statement earns a small grin on his face except this one came with a little hesitation, _'What is really going on here?'_

"We should join them in the living room. We don't want them to think we are discussing other business." Tsuna claims while he releases a deep breath.

Hayato nods his head before the two males whirl in the direction of the living room.

0000

Haru was not about to admit just how nervous and anxious she is to finally see everyone again, especially after her very long hiatus away from the Vongola family.

She abruptly studies the very intense expression that Tsuna briefly flashes to her.

It was the exact same expression that Hayato had shown to her earlier. They were trying to analyze whether or not she was the real Haru. The Haru that…

She slightly shakes her head and ultimately decides to focus on the positives that were about to occur to her now that she moves back to Japan.

Haru feels someone's hand rubs her hair with their hands once she first enters the room, "Haru is still the same TO THE EXTERME!"

She glances up to see Ryohei Sasagawa with his hair slightly spiked forward to the sky. He wears a black suit with an orange dress shirt and a black tie.

"It's too crowded in here." A man with a similar suit, except with a purple dress shirt, and his hair was a little messier than usual, gruffs.

'_So far that was two out of the five that are still the same...especially Hibari-san hating crowds.' _Haru assumes after she opts not to approach Hibari since he radiates a dangerous aura around him.

"Hey Haru! You sure did get taller." A man with spiky black hair, a blue dress shirt and a black suit with a katana that hangs off the right side of his shoulder greets her.

"I've gotten taller? You are the one that looks taller!" She happily retorts toward the young man whose name is Takeshi Yamamato.

"Haru-chan has come back! Can you make me some takoyaki?" a taller version of Lambo, with a cow print shirt underneath a black blazer, khaki pants and black sandals adorn his feet, requests to the brunette woman.

"My, my, my, Lambo-kun, you sure have grown in to such a handsome young man since Haru last saw you." Haru states before she develops the urge to ruffle his hair but decides to go ahead and do it anyway.

Haru recognizes Chrome Dokuro, along with her two personal bodyguards Ken and Chikusa, were somewhere away from all of the excitement.

She already knew that she posed absolutely no threat to the girl but she was totally aware at how silently overprotective they were of their master Mukuro Rukudo, who often times lay dormant within her consciousness.

"Hey Chrome," Haru greeted her after she trek toward the blue haired woman and squatted down to Chrome's seated height.

She lazily opens her eyes and gently wipes the sleep away from her eyes before her pupils swiftly dilate to behold Haru in front of her.

"Hello there Haru," Chrome quietly greets her before she slowly stretches out to her original height.

"How about we eat?" Tsuna promptly suggests to his family, who all simultaneously nods their heads in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

Hayato leisurely occupies one of the fluffy mats that encircles a large rectangular mahogany table that is fill with the immediate relations of the Vongola family.

"Tonight we have gathered to celebrate the return of our very own Haru Miura and her daughter Chiharu-chan. So eat as much as you want and let's have a toast!" Tsuna broadcasts to the crowd whom he acknowledges as his family while he raises his sake cup in the air.

"Welcome back, Haru and Chiharu!" Everyone cheerfully bellows in unison, except for Haru and of course Chiharu, who was surprisingly comfortable around big crowds.

'_Just like old times, huh?' _Hayato thinks to himself right before he downs the entire cup of sake that was use as a toast for Haru and her daughter.

Haru displayed a genuine smile on her face while she appreciated the sensation of being welcome back home and surrounded by her family.

The sake she consumes seem to ease away the tension in her body that was there prior to her arrival to Japan and amongst the Vongola care.

She glances to her left toward her daughter as she happily gulps down a glass of milk, which Kyoko provides for her since she could not drink any alcohol.

Chiharu took sheer delight in all of the garnered attention and was mature enough to take it within strides, which is something unheard for a toddler.

_'As long as she's happy then I should enjoy myself.' _She agrees after she observes her daughter's interaction with her close friends.

"So Haru-chan, where did you go?" the rain guardian, Takeshi Yamamoto, curiously inquires after he casually sips at his beverage.

"I went west...to America." Haru answers with no hesitation whatsoever in her tone.

Her response seem to spark excitement throughout the immediate members of the Vongola family.

"Did you get to see any boxing matches over there?" "Are their baseball teams any good?" "I wonder what it is like over there?" "Did they have any good desserts?" "The Americans are ranked #1 in where opportunities are boundless!" "Do they have Gyoza buns?" "No...how about takoyaki?" "Do they have any hot women there?"

They rapidly fire off questions at her that she simply did not know how to provide an adequate response to all of them, "Ohm, can you guys ask one at a time please?"

She completely senses that they were all genuinely curious about America's culture from the subjects of their question.

"Everyone you're freaking her out!" Kyoko's calm voice some how cuts through the ruckus of the others.

They turn to observe Haru with a petrified expression as she shielded Chiharu with her arms from their frantic frenzy.

"That is why I hate crowding…" Hibari mumbled after he witnessed what just occured to Haru.

Hayato was considerably vacant from the enthusiasm that the others feel after he overhears that Haru left Japan for America. _'So that's where she went…I'm not surprised since she told me that that was her dream vacation.'_

"So Haru, when you went to America, what did you do to support yourself?" Kyoko questions her after the excitement dies down.

"I did part time work as a student aid for my father, who was on a residency at the college he worked at. I attended college again and received a degree in International Affairs/Relations and Political Science and Government." Haru replies while she plucks a piece of Tempura fish from the plate.

'_That's a big change.' _Hayato broods after he listens to what Haru said she studied while she resided in America.

'_So what do you want to study while we are in college?' _a slightly younger version of Hayato inquisitively poses while they comfortably rest on a green park bench.

They observe various ages of children run around on the playground.

_'Haru thinks she wants to do something with fashion…like Theater Costume Design or Fashion Design. It's so hard to choose.'_ A slightly younger version of Haru dreamily responds with a far off expression in her eyes.

"If I'm right then that's a total of four degrees under your belt. Congratulations are in order!" Kyoko compliments her best friend with a genuine smile on her face.

Haru settles the small piece of fish on to Chiharu's plate before she scoops up a piece for her plate.

"It was all because of Chiharu. She was the one, who kept me going while I was over there."

Hayato still on cloud nine would ever so often leave and observe the others enjoy the presence of Haru and her daughter.

'_Is that her reason why she left Japan?' _He ponders as his hand extends out toward the bottle of sake before he pours him another full cup.

Haru watches Hayato reaches out for the sake bottle instead of the food like everyone else was doing. _'He seems as if he has been under a lot of stress.'_

She peers over to Chiharu as she consumes the deep fried fish with a smile of satisfaction on her face. "Is it good?"

Chiharu physically nods her head before she intently focuses her attention back onto the food that currently occupies her plate.

The flow of the party travels at a swift pace since Kyoko had activities set up so that the home welcoming would be memorable for both Haru and Chiharu.

The karaoke slot revealed hidden talents from unexpected people, for example Hibari and Mukuro could actually sing. Although Hibari refused to sing any other song, except for the Namimori Middle School anthem.

Night time descends as Haru calls it quits once she spots Chiharu's head nods off to sleep but tries her hardest to stay awake due to the excitement.

"I think its time for us to call it a night. Chiharu seems to be dozing off." Haru mutters to Kyoko, who leans over and notices Chiharu fast asleep in her mother's lap.

Kyoko deems the sight before her as absolutely adorable when she quietly mumbles, "It's fine. I think Tsuna-kun said your apartment won't be ready until tomorrow, so for now you can sleep here."

Haru gently scoops Chiharu up within her arms so she would not unexpectedly awake the child from her peaceful dream.

"It's been a while since I have been back, can you show me where we will be sleeping?" Haru poses to her best friend.

"Sure, that's no problem." Kyoko responds while she stands to her feet along with Haru, who totes Chiharu.

"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna shakes one of his closes friend and self-proclaimed right hand man, who seems to doze off because he consumes majority of the sake from the party.

"Juudaime?" he rubs his eyes, "Is there something wrong?"

"Kyoko just took Haru-chan, to her temporary room, remember the assignment that I placed you on?" Tsuna reminds Hayato of his mission.

Hayato remains in his current position before he whirls around to face Tsuna with a rather grave expression on his face, "What's the real reason why you assigned me to this mission?"

"Why do you ask me that?" Tsuna inquiries since he had to be cautious so he would not provide any hints to Hayato.

"Each one of us is considered capable for this assignment. So why didn't you assign lawn-head or baseball freak to this mission?" His questions catches Tsuna slightly off-guard.

"They're each handling private matters of their own. You were the only person available so I was looking out for your best interest." Tsuna reasons to him while he avoids a lie since he makes it a point to be honest with his family at all times.

His answer seems to resonate within Hayato once he raises to his feet and dusts himself off. "Well then from now on I won't question Juudaime when it comes down to manners like this. Good night."

Tsuna did not release his breath until Hayato exits the room when he senses that the other Vongola family members' eyes were set on him.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you all knew too." Tsuna merely announces to the group after he critically studies the concern expressions on their faces after they overhear the conversation between Hayato and himself.

"So how long are you going to hold out?" Hibari ponders while he leans his shoulder against an open shoji door with his eyes close and his arms across his chest.

Tsuna was already mentally prepared for the questions that his family were going to ask him, "As you all know right now is not a good time for him to know."

The family members unanimously agree with their boss assessment of the situation.

0000

Haru positions herself as close as possible to Kyoko even though she recalls the layout of the mansion but there was a small indication that the house could have been renovated over the time that she left them.

Kyoko displays the exact same smile that was on her face from the first time when she physically beholds Haru, "Here we are."

Haru watches Kyoko stop a little ways ahead of her, faces a shoji door and slides the door open so Haru and Chiharu can step inside.

"Thank you." She mouths the words before she observes Kyoko shakes her head and mutters a "Good night" and blows a kiss toward Chiharu.

Once Kyoko returns the door to its original position did the sound solidifies that she was finally back home for good.

A sigh of relief gently escapes her mouth when she recounts her bundle of joy that was in her arms, _'I am finally back.'_

The thought brought a much-needed burden to be removed from her chest yet there was also the secret she kept from everyone, except for Tsuna-san and Kyoko-chan.

Two futons were already laid out for them with one being the perfect size for Chiharu and the other fits her height.

'_Leave it to Kyoko-chan to be considerate with the futon's sizes.' _She notes before she strides over toward the futon and positions Chiharu underneath the cover.

Haru brushes a stray curl of her brown hair away from her face before she admires her daughter's beauty.

Meanwhile outside of Haru and Chiharu's room, Kyoko ventures back to the dining area when she spots Gokudera-kun with his hands inside of his pants' pockets as he shuffles toward where Haru and Chiharu were.

Kyoko halts a couple of steps behind Hayato when she utters "Take good care of her Gokudera-kun," before she walks to the dining room.

Hayato advances forward after Kyoko left his side, plops down on the raise wooden platform and leans against one of the many slim wooden columns that supports the roof.

After Haru tucks Chiharu inside of her futon, she opts for some fresh air and down time since she rarely had the opportunity when she was in America.

She hops to her feet while she pads over to the shoji door, slides it open and closes it back with her eyes close as she releases a deep sigh.

Haru lifts her eyelids only to connect with a set of green eyes that stares back at her. it was at that moment when her feet suddenly develop roots to the ground.

0000

"Why is it so quiet in here?" Kyoko wonders once she arrives inside of the dining room to see that the dynamic excitement exponentially decrease to a static mundane level.

If she did not know the people at her dining table that well then she would have accepted the decline but not them. It was almost...unnatural.

"So did you show Haru to her room?" Tsuna poses to his wife a obvious question from his position at the head of the table.

The others seem to have some type of thought on their mind about something, "Tsuna-kun, did you tell them what I think you did?"

Tsuna's face reveals an expression of gloom after he listens to the tone she takes toward him, "It was bound to happen whether we wanted it to or not. I don't want any secrets from the family, besides they already had a pretty good hunch about it."

"That doesn't mean it is acceptable to tell them without consulting Haru-chan first!" Kyoko expresses her disappointment of her husband's actions.

"Kyoko, calm down! Tsuna-san has the right thought process. Its better for us to know then keep us in the dark. There are certain issues that may arise that can potentially affect Haru and Chiharu and we will have tonbe ready for anything." Kyoko listens to her older brother Ryohei, explains to her Tsuna's reasons.

"Mm naa I mean it is rather obvious just by the way she acts." Takeshi happily states with his eyes close before he folds his arms across his chest with a smile on his face. "It's just like him."

"What were those death threats that she was receiving? Since there would be no reason for her sudden return, now would there?" Hibari replies while he remains in his own little corner of the room in a similar pose like Takeshi, except without a smile.

"Hibari-san is right. The real issue here is to find out who sends those kind of threats to her." Tsuna voices while he scans the room for each one of their reactions after his announcement.

"So there is a possibility that another family may want all of our heads? I am not surprised at that, it seems as if the Vongola family has become like the top prize at a fair." I-pin claims while she shifts to get comfortable on her seat.

"That's why we are going to conduct an investigation of this manner. Does everyone here agree or Hibari-san, do you want to take this one under your wing?" Tsuna suggests as he directs the latter part of his question to his head of intelligence.

"I'll do it but if you herbivores find anything and fail to report it in. I'll bite you to death." He threatens in a nonchalant tone when he responds to Tsuna's question.


	3. Chapter 3

"You know you can come and sit down if you want." Hayato speaks after he observes Haru's stun expression and her hesitation to speak to him.

Somewhere or somehow, Haru summons up the courage to take a seat next to the silver head young man, who was dubbed the mathematical genius when they were in college.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" He poses after he turns his focus back to the night sky that displays the circular shape of the white moon on a cloudless night.

She casts her gaze at the sky and admits along with Hayato's previous statement, "You're right! It is a beautiful night."

"Can you do me a favor?" Hayato suddenly asks the brown haired woman to his left.

Haru was not surprised at how stern Hayato had become since the last she saw him, that was something she had came to admire about him.

"What is it?" She answers his question with another one as she holds her intertwine hands against her lap.

"I want you to give me a honest answer for the question that I am about to ask you?" He warns her with his eyes dead set on her face.

A small "Hahi" slips out of her mouth when she finds herself no longer able to stare in to his eyes but rather focus on the night sky.

"If you can't look at me when you answer then I know its not the truth. You, of all people, should know that I don't like to be lied to." Hayato reminds her with the latter part of his statement as a sharp remainder of his pet peeve with people.

_'I'm not ready to answer that question just yet.' _Haru thinks while she conjures up the will power to look him in his eyes.

"Why did you leave me like you did on that night?" he questions her as Hayato can feel an invisible weight lift off of his chest.

_'There you asked her…now all you have to do is wait for the answer.' _Hayato inwardly weighs to himself since that question seems to always haunt him in his nightmares.

"At the time...there were certain things that came about that I had to handle on my own terms. There were problems that were out of my control and so I left to repair them or they would have haunted me and my conscious forever. I didn't want to live that kind of life." Haru confesses even though her bang shields her eyes.

"So you just up and left me without saying something? Do you know how it felt when I woke up in the morning and all I saw was a damn note which claimed that you left? Do you remember that I told you I wanted to ask you a question that next morning?" Hayato fires off questions that dealt with the burden that he carried around on his chest for the past two years.

Haru still did not budge because she knew that this was going to be one of the many conversations she was going to have with Hayato Gokudera. After all they were..._lovers_.

_Six Years Ago... _

A teenage Haru, around the age of sixteen, had just realized that the love of her life was in love with her best friend and vice versa.

The lost of her first love and best friend was something that would generally drive a wedge between friends but Haru was determine not to lose a worthy friend such as Kyoko. So instead, she selects the difficult path to take the high road and in turn decides to remain good friends to the both of them.

Yet, for a young girl her age to learn that she was rejected by someone she held in high favors for her friend kind of left her in a quasi state of depression. The dark cloud grew whenever she dwelled on all of the events that Kyoko had with Tsuna instead of with her.

She swore to herself that she did not want to have anyone worried about her so whenever she would have to cry she would do it by herself and not while the others were around.

Except for the silver haired self proclaim right hand man of the Vongola Decimo, who eventually would be the one to discover her new past time.

She sat on a park bench not to far away from Tsuna's house after she witnessed Kyoko and Tsuna exchanged their first kiss while she was inroute to his house.

The sight created regret and disappointment in the form of tears. Haru was not even sure where she was going but she grants her feet possess of her body as it takes her somewhere far away.

Who would have thought that it would be the very same park where she first presented to Tsuna the result of her precious project.

"I never thought I would see you crying your eyes out, since your usually upbeat about something or wearing a ridiculously outrageous costume." A familiar voice speaks to her.

She wipes the evidence of sadness from her face and wet eyes with both of her hands. Haru sniffles and peers up to see that the voice belongs to none other than Gokudera Hayato.

_'Why? Of all people that Haru knows why did Haru have to run in to the biggest jerk of them all! Why not someone else?' _she wonders when she notices that he wears a black jacket with a red shirt, white belt, blue jeans and black and white shoes.

"Hey Haru's costumes' are not ridiculously outrageous! They have earned high scores for creativity! Haru doesn't see you sewing anything better." Haru refutes while she folds her arms across her chest and huffs at him.

"Trust me, I know what my skills are but I think you need to do the same thing." Hayato replies with a sincere expression on his face.

"Whatever! Haru doesn't care what you think about her costumes. If Haru likes them then she will keep making them!" She proudly defends with a hint of anger present in her tone.

"If you say so, don't let my opinion stop you from doing something that you like. Frankly, I don't really quite care what you make, I know I will get a good laugh out of it." Hayato admits with his hands now in his pockets.

"So you do _like_ Haru's creations! Haru's not surprised after all she does make the best of the best." Haru claims as her chest swells with pride as it replaces the anger she felt a couple of minutes ago.

"I swear you're one stupid girl you know that." He states before he opts to sit down next to her and stretches out.

She was about to respond but Hayato cuts her off, "It's better to see you with that face instead of crying. It doesn't suit you whatsoever."

Haru instantly returns to her reserved state with both of her fists in her lap while she applies the pressure on her thighs.

"It's not fair how people take the high road and end up with the most hurt. How can those who don't follow that path enjoy their lives as if nothing happened?" She mumbles to herself not aware that Hayato can hear her statement.

Hayato positions both of his hands on the back of his head before he exhales a held breath. "Is that it? I thought you had a death in the family. You just have a question about your life and your choices."

Haru snaps her head to face him. "Haru doesn't like that tone whatsoever. How can you act nonchalant about seeing the love of your life fall in love with your best friend and vice versa? You can't tell me that you would not be upset about that!"

_'So that's what has been bothering her…Juudaime's love for Kyoko.' _Hayato concludes to himself while he observes Haru's emotions before he deems them truly genuine.

"Why would I be upset about that? People who are destined for one another are bound to join together. It would have been only a matter of time before Juudaime would have dumped you and admitted to Kyoko how he felt. That is if you two had been dating." He conveys the truth since that was the only way he could cheer her up.

"Haru would have made it work! How dare you pass judgment on something like that as if it was nothing! You don't understand how Haru feels, its like Haru is the outsider looking in and Haru hates that kind of feeling." She proclaims while she points her index finger at her chest for emphasis.

"See right there...you go on babbling about what you could've, should've or would've done yet you did not capitalize on it. You had to have had the notion that sooner or later someone was going to share the same feelings that you have for Juudaime. You just better be lucky it was someone you know instead of a complete stranger. You sure enough would have consider suicide then." Hayato rationalizes with his eyes set on the afternoon sky.

"Haru is confused. Are you trying to cheer Haru up because you're not doing anything but depressing her even further? She would like for you to refrain from the way you are speaking to her." Haru poses as her anger gradually returns.

She observes his expressionless look on his face as he claims, "Look here, I'm not about to sit her and feed you lies just so you can feel better about yourself. Personally, I would forget about Juudaime since there are other boys that would date you. Just don't allow what has happen to ruin your personality."

"I just hope you think about it before you go off and do something stupid. After all, I don't call you stupid girl for no reason." He shouts over his right shoulder right before she strolls out of the park.

Haru remains in her seat while she processes the whole conversation that they just had. _'As much as it would kill Haru, Gokudera-kun does have a point…actually a lot of them.'_

_'I wonder why he stopped to help me? Was it because Tsuna-kun put him up to it? No, I don't think that is it either or he would have said that to me. So why did he do it?'_

"Hey are you there?" His question breaks her out of her past memories.

_'Was that concern in his tone?' _She wonders after she listens to the tone Hayato uses toward her.

"I just want an answer. You have eluded me for far too long for me not to hear the things that sent you to America without so much as a word to me." He breaks her out of her thoughts of the past.

Haru thoughts reeled back to when they first admitted that they both were _fascinated_ by each other.

Six Years Ago...

A still sixteen-year-old Haru prepares for the annual Summer Festival where fireworks and food were to be the highlights of the night.

Kyoko had surprised her when she suggested for her to spend the night over her home before the festival. It was unexpected move but she accepted it out of politeness.

"Haru-chan are you almost done? The others are waiting for us." the sound of Kyoko's voice travels in the room after she sticks her head through the open door.

"Oh, Haru just finished up here. Haru didn't know that they were waiting for us." Haru replies before she adjusts the stray strands of brown hair that cascades in front of her face.

She rises from her seated position and scoops up a coin purse that matches her summer fashion kimono.

"That's a nice color on you." Kyoko compliments her friend as she wears a green kimono with yellow and orange lotus flowers along the hem.

"Thanks, Haru likes your kimono too!" Haru honestly admits even though it slightly pains her to admit just how beautiful Kyoko was in the summer kimono.

"Alright then, what are we waiting for then?" Kyoko poses with a genuine smile on her face before she reaches out for one of Haru's hand and tugs the girl along with her.

_'Haru isn't surprised to see Reborn-san, Bianchi-san Takeshi-kun, Chrome-chan, Ryouei-sempai, and even Tsuna-kun in a summer yukata or kimono.' _

Haru scans the group's outfits as she notes that only one person out of the group chose not to dress in the traditional fashion…Gokudera Hayato.

"Well this was the last stop, is everyone ready?" Tsuna broadcasts to the others.

He receives a unified answer of a "yes" before the group set off once again this time toward their final destination the Summer Festival.

The people in the group manage to pair off with someone as they travel to the festival.

Tsuna and his newly acquired girlfriend Kyoko Sasagawa were in the front along with Reborn, who comfortably rests in Bianchi's arms, Ryohei chats with Takeshi, and Chrome takes in her new surroundings.

This left Haru with the only other sole person, who was the silver haired male name, Gokudera Hayato.

"Haru wants to know why you didn't wear a summer yukata?" Haru wonders since her curiosity begins to nag at her.

"If I remember correctly there isn't a dress code for these festivals so I wanted to wear something that I was comfortable in." He expresses sincerity in his tone while he cuts his eyes over to her.

"Still Haru says it's all about the spirit of enjoying it!" Haru conveys since she was determined to prove her point.

"I mean its not like I won't be the only person there in normal clothing, besides I don't take a particular interest in wearing yukatas." He replies while he stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets.

Haru knew that gesture was a sign that Hayato was annoyed. "Haru did not mean to annoy you. It is just she can't see why people would not want to fully experience the festival."

_'I'm surprised she apologized. She usually would have just argued with me. I wonder what has gotten in to her?' _he ponders before his eyes land on his boss with the orange haired girl name Kyoko.

"I really don't like festivals except for certain things, but its not that bad though. I can't blame you for being defensive about something that you like." Hayato explains as a means of distraction from Tsuna.

_'He's being nice. Haru doesn't have a good feeling about this.' _ Haru judges after she listens to his statement.

"See you went all quiet on me now, that's not like you stupid girl. You should at least get a kick out of the festival minus the tears." Hayato suggests with a small smile on his face.

Haru did not verbally responds to his comment but rather mentally opts to accept the silvered haired boy's advice and simply enjoy the festival without thoughts of Tsuna and Kyoko.

It was surprisingly easy because she obtained aid from none other than Hayato, himself. He went everywhere she went or vice versa. It was as if they both made a silent promise to each other to not let their environment affect them.

"Do you think he would have the nerve to tell her?" Ryohei poses to Takeshi after he knocks down bottles in a pyramid shape with a small white ball while he leaves a small hole in the back of the tent.


	4. Chapter 4

Takeshi points toward a random object before the vendor hands it over to him, "Here you are sir."

The pair observe the silver and brown haired duo travel from booth to booth with a happy Haru and a small smile present on Hayato's face.

"Haru would like a chocolate covered banana with sprinkles on it." Haru orders while she reads the venue sign and what it has to offer.

"And you sir," the female vendor turns towards Hayato when she asks the question.

"Haru thinks you should get one too." She gently urges him to try one of their creations.

"I'll have a fried banana dipped in chocolate." Hayato simply responds since he already had a idea on what he really wants to try.

"You like your banana _fried_? Haru finds that very weird but it is indeed different." Haru states once she returns to her regular height.

"Having it fried is the best way to eat it! I can't believe you enjoy yours with sprinkles." Hayato calmly retorts as they quietly observe the woman creates their respective orders.

"Well then Haru suggest we trade to see who is right about which one taste better?" Haru poses as it sounds more like a challenge than a question.

"Here is your chocolate covered banana sprinkles," she hands it to Haru, "and your fried banana dipped in chocolate," she hands it to Hayato.

The duo then swaps their respective orders for the other, breaks a bit of the banana off, places it inside of their mouth and swallows it whole.

'_It's not that bad…' _they both inwardly thought before they eagerly swapped back to what they originally ordered for.

"Haru must admit it... it taste good fried." Haru admits after she receives her banana back from Hayato.

She notices the expression present on his face. She senses that he feels the same way but would not directly admit it to her, "Well it seems as if you don't have...that bad of taste in food."

Haru smiles at the statement since she knows that that was the closest she was going to get to him admit that it was good.

"Hey you two!" "It seems as if you are both enjoying the festival." Takeshi voice was heard before Haru turn to face him and Kyoko's older brother, Ryohei.

Haru nods her head while Hayato wonders why Takeshi just so happens to bother them right now. _'Something's up with baseball freak...I wonder what it is?' _

It was at that moment did, he witnesses Takeshi hands her something from behind his back.

"Oh Takeshi-san, you shouldn't have." Haru merrily mentions while she happily accepts the black and white teddy bear with a smile on her face.

Hayato notices the quick look that the baseball freak wears on his face after he watches Haru's reaction to his gift. "It's no problem at all since I really had no use for it anyway."

Ryohei decides to keep in the neutral position after he studies the glares that Hayato gives Takeshi at the moment.

"By the way Takeshi, if you get another one I don't mind you giving it to me since the more the merrier." Haru whispers in one of the raven-haired teenager's ear.

It garners a wide smile on his face before he stretches out to his normal height, "You can count on me!"

'_So the baseball freak does as well…' _Hayato concludes before he polishes off the rest of the chocolate covered banana with sprinkles after he observes his close friend's actions.

The night went on without too much of a fuss except for when the fireworks were announced to be fired off in a couple of minutes.

"Come on, I want to get a good spot so we can see the fireworks!" Haru proclaims with the bear underneath one of her arm pits.

She unknowingly reaches for Hayato's hand and gently pulls him along with her through the massive crowd of people that surrounds them.

_'How I really want to toss that stupid bear in to the damn trashcan.' _He wishes as he stares at the bear the entire time Haru pulls at him to follow her.

"You don't have to yank my arm off, you know." He mentioned to her in the process of being tugged by Haru but it went completely over her head.

"It's too late now…we are already here now." Haru retorts before she points toward the night sky to see the various explosions of red, blue and green.

"This is so nice…" Haru mumbles to herself while she peers up towards the night sky to see the various shapes in the night's sky.

Hayato looks over to see that Haru wears a genuine smile and pure happiness on her face, _'I'm glad that I could help her.' _

He closes his eyes and decides to just enjoy the moment when he hears his name just above a whisper "Hayato-_kun_,"

He glances up to see that Haru was staring at him with her eyes low before speaking up with a "Thank you." She leans in and places a kiss on one of his cheek.

"Eh Tsuna-kun? Did you just see that?" Kyoko inquires toward Tsuna, who glances over his shoulder to see what happens between Haru and Hayato.

Tsuna was glad that the two were getting along so well with one another without arguing or teasing, _'Maybe it is the start of something.'_

0000

Hayato was growing irritated at the fact that Haru still did not answer his question; the sound of movement behind her provided her an opportunity to flee from the silver haired male.

"I need to go check on Chiharu." Haru stats while she hops to her feet on the ground.

'_She still did not answer…go get the sake bottle.' _He hears a voice suggests to him after he watches Haru's retreat.

He rose to his feet and with one last look at the now closed shoji door made his way back toward the living room.

Haru waits with her back against the door and one of her hands rests on the slid handle. After she hears footsteps, she slides down until she feels the cold wooden floor against her bottom.

'_I can not tell you the answer to that question…at least until you are ready for it.' _She concludes to herself while she peers over her shoulder before staring at Chiharu again.

0000

Hayato woke up earlier than usual due to a regular routine that he acquired from when he was little. He felt his head begin to throb very hard.

'_I must have drunken too much again…' _he thought to himself before he secure his alarm clock in his hands when he reads the red digital numbers that informs him that it was six in the morning.

He can feel his body crying out for sleep but his throbbing headache forces him to get out of bed so he can deal with the terrible hangover he was feeling.

A soft knock can be heard at his bedroom door, which sounded more like someone blew a trumpet directly in his right ear.

"Come on in…it is unlock." He says loud enough for the person outside of the door to hear him.

The knob twists in a clockwise motion opens to reveal the sight of a brunette haired woman with a silver tray in her hand appears from behind the door.

'_Miura…Haru?' _he wonders to himself as he had to shake his head to make sure that he was not dreaming.

'_I thought she was still in America.' _He assumes before rubbing his temples with his index finger as the throbbing was starting to become worse.

What catches his eye was the content that was on the tray: it was a full glass of water, a slice of bread, and an aspirin pill on a plate.

Haru places it on the lamp counter that was on the side of his bed. "Are you really Miura, Haru?"

She knows all too well how he was when he drank like a fish...short term memory loss, "Yes, it is really me."

"I see you still sleep with a shirt off as if you are invincible to the cold." Haru comments while she crosses her arms across her chest.

He makes a move so that he was on the same side of the bed where Haru was poise to reveal that he wears red sweatpants.

'_At least he is wearing some pants.' _She rejoices to herself when she notices that he grabs the slice of bread and eats it first.

"You thought I forgot about what happened yesterday?" he speaks up after he swallows the slice of bread and reaches for the aspirin pill and the water at the same time.

"No...no I did not. I saw you drank like a fish and I knew that you were going to have a serious hangover in the morning. Since you were kind enough to pick Chiharu and I up from the airport yesterday morning its the least i can do." Haru explains her presence.

He twirls the pill around in the palm of his hand before he pops it in his open mouth and downs it with water.

"Chiharu is your daughter right?" He inquisitively poses while at her directly stares at her face after he finally swallows the pill whole.

"Of course she is _mines_! Why would you ask me such a question like that?" Haru questions with anger evident in her tone as she watches him finish the glass of water.

Hayato rubs his temples with his hands again as the pulsations becoming dull pains. "I didn't want to argue with you. All I ask was a simple question woman."

There was a slight awkward moment between the two when she notices him rubs his face this time. "Thanks."

"You are welcome." She announces before she hasty exits from Hayato's private room.

He allows his mind to wonder a little about what all happened between him and his former lover. _'I wondered how will this work out…'_

0000

Meanwhile the dining room was quite busy with the Vongola family moving about picking out their breakfast selection.

Haru entered the dining area with Chiharu attached to her hand before she settled her in a seat at the table. "What do you want to eat?"

Chiharu hands shot forward while she imitates fireworks while she exclaims, "Pancakes!"

"Alright then, sit here and I will go and get you some pancakes." Haru informs her daughter, who cheers in anticipation for pancakes.

Kyoko enters the busy dining room when her eyes land on Chiharu, who sits at the far end of the table by herself, "Good morning Chiharu-chan."

"Aunt Kyoko!" Chiharu beams her a wide toothy smile, which causes Kyoko's heart to simply flutter from the action.

"Is your mommy here?" Kyoko wonders out of curiosity since she did not see Haru right next to her daughter.

Chiharu points towards the direction to where Haru currently stands before Kyoko notices her among the others placing food on their plate.

"Thank you sweetie," Kyoko thanks her niece before making her way over to where Haru was standing.

"Good morning Kyoko." Haru greets Kyoko with a warm smile. "Oh good morning to you too Haru. How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing good, did you see Chiharu?" Haru ask after fixing her daughter a plate of pancakes.

"Yes I did, her smile just made my morning." Kyoko answers with a smile of her own.

"Children tend to have that affect on people, is there something up?" Haru asks after noticing the particular look that was present on her best friend's face.

"No, Tsuna-kun told me to tell you that he wants to see you after breakfast." Kyoko relays the message on to Haru.

Haru was now wearing a weird expression on her face after hearing the message. "Sure, I don't see why not."

"You don't have to worry about Chiharu. I will look after her for a couple of minutes, besides I do have to spoil my only niece as much as possible." Kyoko says reassuring her friend's worries.

'_I already know that but what are we going to talk about?' _she thought while fixing her own plate before heading over to where her daughter was sitting.

Hayato was the last to enter the dining room only to realize that it was like being in the café area at college except in a much smaller area.

The first person he notices was the one who caused the house to stir up due to her presence; that was the little girl known as Chiharu Miura.

Hayato could see that she was wearing a wide smile on her face, as her eyes were wide with delight at her surroundings.

He also notices Haru makes her way back to her daughter with a plate of one pancake some eggs and a small piece of sausage.

Hayato sees Chiharu claps her hands while she directly stares at her plate while her mother cuts her food in to smaller pieces so it was easier for her to consume.

"Good morning, Hayato-san." Kyoko politely greets him on her way out of the dining room, he swiftly returns the greeting to the orange haired woman.

"Tsuna-kun says he would like to see you in his office after breakfast. He also said it will be brief." Kyoko relays the message on to the other party.

Hayato nods his head to show that he understands what she instructs him to do. He opts for some pieces of fruit since he was not too hungry for anything else this morning.

"Good morning octopus head." "Yo good morning Gokureda-kun." "Don't crowd near me. I will bite you all to death."

Hayato returns each and every one of their special greetings minus Hibari, who bares his teeth or his tonfas while he consumes his rice.

"Were you okay yesterday?" "I haven't seen you drink like that in a while."

Hayato peels the orange skin of the orange before he replies, "Yeah…drinking my problems away that's all."

The guardian of the Sun and the Rain reads the subliminal message of his statement before their eyes fall on the brunette haired woman, who feeds her daughter.


	5. Chapter 5

Hayato wonders what the Tenth wanted to talk to him about after he heard what Kyoko just told him.

'_The only reason why he would call for me is because…' _his thoughts trailed off once he glances up to see Haru and Chiharu finishing up the last of their breakfast.

'_But what could it be?' _he thought before seeing Haru and Chiharu make their way over to where Kyoko was waiting for them.

He finishes up what was left of his meal before deciding to go ahead and visit Tsuna to see what was up.

"You are going to spend sometime with Aunt Kyoko, mommy needs to talk to Uncle Tsuna, okay?" Haru informs her after bending down to Chiharu's height.

Chiharu nods her head and takes a hold of Kyoko's hand and the two were off down the hallway.

'_I trust her with you, Kyoko-chan…' _she thought after releasing a sigh of relief before forgetting that she did not know where Tsuna's room was.

Before she could call out to Kyoko for instructions, she saw that they had already turned the corner with a smiling Chiharu.

'_Just great…what am I going to do now?' _she wonders to herself before she came face to face with the silver haired dynamite himself, Gokudera, Hayato.

There was almost like an immediate silence when they were faced with one another, she notices that he had a werid look on his face.

"Where is your mini-me at? I thought you would keep her under a much tighter watch?" he questions her.

If Haru did not know the young man standing standing front of her as well as she did, she would have slapped him for being so rude and obnoxious but she knew that was his own personal way of asking.

"She has to spend time with other people besides me…Kyoko-chan has her under her care. Anyway, I knew you of all people would know where Tsuna-san room is." Haru responds to his questions he had asked her.

"Is there something that you need to discuss with the Tenth?" he questions her when his eyes narrowed after he asked.

"I see your obsession with being his right-hand man has not diminished at all. I obviously need to talk to him about something important." Haru adds in after seeing the look Hayato currently had on his face.

Hayato observes the woman's face before placing his hands in his pockets and sighed, "You didn't have to go that far...even I have my limits you know."

She was slightly taking aback at what Hayato just told her but before she could even apologize to him. He had made his way pass her.

"I thought you said you had something to ask of Tsuna?" he poses while looking over his right shoulder.

She nods her head in a yes manner before responding with a "Thanks."

0000

Tsuna was going over the paperwork that Hibari had placed on his desk from the earlier request for information that was needed.

'_She was not lying when she said that they were receiving death threats then on top of that she had threats on kidnapping her daughter with ransom.'_

He leans back in his chair allowing all the information that was in front of him to soak into his mind. _'As long as they are under his care then I am sure that they will remain safe.' _

The sounds of knocking can be heard which brings him out of his deep thoughts, "Come on in."

Tsuna rubs his temples with his index, middle and ring fingers as he could feel some of the throbbing come to a dull pinch, _'I need an aspirin or something…'_

"Hey there, Tenth, you don't look so good." The sound of his trusted friend Gokudera, Hayato was heard first.

He glances up to see both his Guardian of Storm and his close friend Miura, Haru standing in front of his desk.

"I'm going to get some breakfast in a couple of minutes once I handle this business. Will the both of you please take a seat?" Tsuna suggest before pointing to the two seats that were available.

Haru and Hayato looks at one another before taking the suggestion and takes one of the seats, "I have called you both here because this of course concerns the both of you."

She gives Tsuna a warning look as if to say that she was not ready yet to tell, "If this is about my daughter Chiharu and her safety then I'm more than all ears."

"Yes it does. I have assigned Hayato to be your personal bodyguard since I know for sure that I can trust him with you two. I wanted to bring to light that you two will be living together from this point on since the distance would take too much of a chance." Tsuna starts the meeting.

Hayato sits until his back touches the back of his seat while his hands were now laid out on the arms of the chair while Haru shifts forward until she was now on the edge of the seat.

"Before you two say something about this, allow me to explain why I decided this was the best way." Tsuna says while rising his hands to calm the group down.

"Please do, because I want my daughter to live a normal life as possible and I just don't see why he can not live next door." Haru offers another proposal.

"Listen up you two, I am _fully_ aware of your history with one another but you will have to put that aside for the sake of Chiharu. Besides, Hayato no longer goes to his own apartment anymore and has financial problems with the rent and you need a place other than here to live." Tsuna explains his reasoning behind the problem.

Haru glances over at Hayato, "You are having problems with the rent of that apartment? I thought you had it covered?"

"No, I just failed to pay my rent on time but it wouldn't be suitable any way since it is a one bedroom apartment. Chiharu is too old for a crib right so it would definitely not work." Hayato answers with a look on his face.

"Luckily for us, another apartment has become available in the same complex but this time it is a two-bedroom apartment. You can setup the rooms how ever you will like just as long as Chiharu is safe." Tsuna proclaims with finality in his tone.

Haru notices something strange that was sitting on top of Tsuna's desk. She shots upwards before clearly seeing what was present on his desk, "So you think that he will be able to stop all of this from coming in and scaring me to death?"

"Haru, I don't understand what all you had to do to endure when you were overseas but I am at least trying to help you out a little." Tsuna says in a calm tone.

"You shouldn't waste your breath on this woman Tenth. When she is in this derange state my advice to you would be to give her a couple of minutes to get herself together." Hayato answers as this really riles Haru up.

She stands to her feet, turns around, and storms out of the room before slamming the door shut hard, "Gokudera-kun,"

"Yes, what is it, Tenth?" he asks after turning his attention quickly towards Tsuna.

"You were being a little too harsh towards her, you know that right?" Tsuna poses to him after hearing how Hayato would settle the emotional Haru.

Hayato lets out a sigh before explaining to Tsuna, "You said you trusted me on this and I of all the people in this building knows how _that _woman thinks. Give her five minutes and she will be back this time quiet and calm."

0000

Haru really did not go travel to far away from Tsuna's office after slamming the door hard behind her because her anger was at a dangerous high right now.

'_I can't believe this…' _she thought to herself before finally stopping somewhere and placing her back against the wall.

'_My daughter's safety comes first but…I just don't want to be around him.' _She thought to herself after she felt the floor underneath her butt.

'_God, why can't I do this?' _Haru tries to will herself forward but it was hard since there were too many emotions rushing through her all at one time.

"Hey, Haru-chan are you alright?" A voice asks her before she gazes up to seeing a smiling Takeshi standing in front of her.

"Oh my god, this is so embarrassing," she says to herself before wiping tears away from her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Come on now, you shouldn't be sitting on the cold floor." he tells her after offering his hand to help her back up on to her feet.

Haru cleans up her face before accepting the kind gesture and finds herself back on to her feet, "It is rare to see you crying like this. Care to tell me what is wrong?"

She sniffles before staring him in the face to answer, "Tsuna wants me and Chiharu to room with Hayato for security purposes but I can't do it because…."

Takeshi reaches his hand out until he comes in to contact with Haru's shoulder, "You are still in love with him. It is okay for you to at least admit that to yourself but you now have something else to worry about."

"Yeah, you are right Takeshi, thank you for that." Haru nods her head up and after being soothed by Takeshi voice and gives him a quick hug.

The sound of the door opening before Hayato emerges and releases a deep breath, _'How can I deal with this?' _

Hayato looks around before deciding to head to the left and when he turns the corner he saw Haru hugging Takeshi.

'_What the world is going on here?' _he thought to himself before he clears his throat loudly signaling that he had caught the two of them. The pair quickly separates from one another in a quick fashion.

"Uh yeah," Haru was the first to respond after separating from Takeshi's hold.

"Tsuna says he needs us back so we can finish up what we were discussing so we can get going." Hayato informs her while pointing over his shoulder with one of his thumbs.

Haru looks at Hayato before shifting her gaze back and forth at the two close friends, "Thanks Takeshi for the talk and the hug."

She then makes her way pass Hayato before looking at the two once again before turning the corner. _'Please don't let Hayato do anything stupid…'_

"It is not what it seems like Hayato. She was on the floor crying her precious little heart out when I happen to pass by and decide to console her that's all." Takeshi explains exactly what happened.

"You know what. There was this one thing I wanted to tell you about some years back when I first saw it with my very own eyes. Would you like to know what it was?" He poses to Takeshi while looking at him dead in the face.

Takeshi's face slightly fell but it never lost the gentle smile that he was now for, "What did you see?"

"When we were around sixteen years old we all went to the summer festival to look at the fireworks. You remember that? You gave Haru a black and white teddy bear that night because you claimed that you would have just thrown it away?" Hayato recalls what all he had seen that day.

'_Could he have seen what I think he did?' _Takeshi thought to himself after he recollects what happened on that day.

"Yes I do remember because I was with Ryohei most of the afternoon. Why did you bring that up?" he ponders.

"You really are making this difficult, Takeshi. I saw the look that you had given to Haru when you gave her the bear. Are you in _love_ with Haru?" Hayato inquires as he observes every last movement of Takeshi's face.

Takeshi did not immediately answer the question but instead paused, "At a time I was but I saw how you made her happy and so I had no choice but to let her go."

"You really are still a cupcake you know." Hayato responds to his friend's statement in a teasing manner.

Takeshi could not help but to laugh at the statement that Hayato just told him, "Oh Hayato,"

"Yeah what is it?" he questions over his shoulder after he turns away from Takeshi with his back facing him now.

"She is still in love with you, you know that right?" Takeshi adds in before turning away from Hayato as well.

He continues down the hall without another word towards Takeshi before pausing at Tsuna's office, another breath was released from his mouth, _'Yeah...I still know that.' _

0000

"Do you two agree upon the proposal that I have made?" Tsuna questions the two of them while shifting papers into one stack on his desk.

"Yes. If Chiharu is happy and safe then I am one hundred percent committed to it." Haru explains the reason as to why she agrees.

Hayato did not offer a verbal answer but instead offer a physical one by nodding his head up and down.

"Good, the apartment is furnished and three months of rent have been paid for already. So if there is nothing else then you can leave now." Tsuna declares.

"One concern, Tenth," Hayato speaks up which catches Haru and Tsuna off-guard. "Can you permit me to use as much force that is needed to protect Haru and her child, Chiharu?"

Tsuna stares at him for a while surprised that he had asked him such a question, "I will permit it only if you need to use it to save those two."

"Thank you." Hayato bows a little at the waist to show his respect for the man who was currently sitting before them.

The seated duo were now on there feet and made their way out of Tsuna's office, "As much as you don't like living with me _again_, this time it does not seem as if you can not get away from it."

Hayato separates from the brown haired woman to head back to his room so he can gather his stuff so he could leave for the apartment.

Haru looks at Hayato's retreating back, _'It looked as if you wanted to say I can't get away from you.' _


	6. Chapter 6

'_I can not believe we are back to square one with these.' _ Hayato thought to himself once he pulls to a red light and his eyes fall on to a sleeping Haru in the backseat.

He shakes his head in disbelief at the situation that seem to repeat itself between him and the young woman sitting in the backseat except this time…there was a little girl involved.

A smile graces his face when he remembers the first time he had offer the idea of living under one roof or shacking up is what the older people would say. He allows himself to recall a fond memory dealing with that, _'It was our senior year in college.'_

"You are doing that thing with your eyebrows again." He hears a voice say to him when he feels someone pushing their finger against his forehead.

He simply sigh at what the woman in front of him, "It seems like you were let out a little later then usual today."

The woman in front of him simply mimic the same action he did with her, "Haru agrees. It seems as if the professor allowed the discussion to get out of hand but that is our little secret."

Hayato opens his closed eyes when he looks from Haru to the faceplate of the door that had the name of her class, "Humanities, huh?"

Haru just rolls her eyes at Hayato's inquiry, "Unlike you Haru wants to try my hand at a little of everything. Haru believes its good to be well rounded since you never know who you can impress with a little bit of history."

'_Even in college you still speak in third person? I guess that will not change about her.' _He thought to himself before pushing off the wall with his propped left leg.

"When is your next class?" Hayato inquires about what was next on her schedule for the day.

Haru observe his face and from the look of it she seen it before, _'There is something on his mind…I wonder what it could be?' _

"Haru doesn't have a class until 2 o'clock, why you got something plan?" Haru was inquisitive since curiosity was slightly getting the better of her.

Hayato glances over to the brunette haired woman that walk on his right hand side. "I am treating you to lunch. Do you accept the invite?"

Haru pause where she was at when she ask him, "Is there something you want to tell me, Hayato?"

"Come on you stupid woman. You are wasting time asking me all these questions, just come along." He answers her question with annoyance in his tone.

Somehow the tone he used towards her put her at ease since she understood that he had a weird way of showing feelings for something and even someone.

'_Well Haru, you are going to get your answer to your question real soon but will you be ready for it?' _Hayato thought to himself after she caught up to his pace.

"So are you going to tell me what is on your mind?" Haru ask him after placing the refreshing cup of beverage back on the placeholder.

Hayato gives her an odd look after hearing the same question she ask him from when they were in the hallway at the college.

"Why do you keep asking me that same question?" he ask slightly annoyed that she knows the signs of him hiding something from her but the feeling fades away after a couple of minutes.

After seeing him lean back in the chair she knows if she did not saying something now then he would never tell her what was currently on his mind.

"Haru knows that look. You have something on your mind. If it concerns Haru then Haru thinks you should go ahead and ask her."

He sits up straight and looks her dead in her face before telling her what was on his mind. "I think we should move in together?"

'_There…it is out there…' _he thought to himself as his trained eyes observed her facial expression to see the slightest indication that she could be lying.

'_I mean it is not like she has a reason to lie to me? Does she?' _he starts to inwardly doubt his choice on telling her the plan.

Haru had a rush of mix feelings through her after hearing what he just announces to her, _'He is serious about it since he does not play with things like this.' _

She tries to form words when she realize that it was her who pushed the subject and Hayato just merely came clean like she wanted him to do, so why could she not answer his question.

"Sure Haru does not see anything wrong with it? Do you?" she inquires about his feelings after gathering her thoughts together.

"You hesitated with your answer. You don't have to do it if you feel pressured." Hayato says to her after observing her actions and how she answer his question.

Haru finds herself rolling her eyes at Hayato's statement, "If Haru says its fine then its fine."

0000

Tsuna leans back in his chair as the whole process went smoother then he had expected but there still was some lingering doubts about how it went down.

'_The least I can do is hope for the best for those two._' he thought to himself since he knew all too well the pair indiviual personalities and how they interact with one another.

He was busy with his thoughts that he did not see nor hear his wife enter the room until she calls out to him, "Tsuna?"

Tsuna looks up to see his wife with her routine check ups on him with a smile on her face, "How did it go?"

He sits up in his seat, "From the outside looking in, it was easy but from the inside, there is something bothering about me."

"Care to tell me what is on your mind?" she asks him before taking the seat that Hayato sat in from earlier.

"I just personally feel that Haru should just come clean with her relationship between her and Hayato. Not only that but Chiharu is going to witness the tense interations." Tsuna answer after releasing a sigh.

Kyoko sits there for a minute and he can tell she was thinking about what he just told her. "Children are bless to not see the harsh relaties of situations and I believe that Chiharu will see it as something else. What that may be, I do not know?"

Tsuna release another sigh, "How can you be so sure Kyoko? I know it is not my job to advise Haru on how she should raise her child but it is just my strong sense of morals."

Kyoko can tell that her husband was deeply troubled with Haru's trouble and how it could affect the Vongola family. "For now, we can only ask as mediators for as long as possible, okay." Kyoko reassured her husband.

_'Always so consider of others before himself...that is why he is the head of the Vongola family.' _She thought to herself.

0000

_'Why me?'_ that question seemed to circulate through his head a lot lately yet the answer never came as he had hoped.

He shakes his head before deciding to turn his attention on getting his cargo and himself to their designated location on time.

Hayato eyes shifted from the front of the car and on to the rearview mirror where he saw a sleeping Haru leaning on her sleeping daugther, who sat strapped into a car seat, a gift from Kyoko and Ryohei.

'_She looks at ease when she sleeps..._' he thought to himself before pulling away from another traffic light after it turns red allowing himself to remember another fond memory between the two.

"Are you looking at me while I am sleeping again?" A woke Haru asked with her eyes still closed.

"How did you know I was looking at you?" he ask her out of curiousity since she figure out that he was looking at her while she was sleeping.

Haru shifts her head against the pillow before opening her eyes and sees him looking at her. "Well while you were not looking I peek and I saw you."

He could not help but to wear a small smile on his face after hearing her response to his question, "It seems as if I got you to smile. Ya Haru!"

"What do you like about Haru while she is sleeping?" Haru ask him while she looks him directly in his face waiting for his answer.

Hayato pauses before giving his answer, "You not talking."

That brings a smile on his face when he hears someone ask him "Hey, how far are we away now?" He glance up to see that the question came from none other than Miura, Haru. _'Then I am back to this again.'_

"Not far, just a couple of blocks away. Why you ask? Are you hungry or something?" Hayato asks in a cordial manner towards her.

He watch as she avoid eye contact with him when she answering his questions. "That is good. I just want to see how far we are. Besides that was a lot of food to eat for breakfast so we are good for now."

Hayato nods his head to show that he understand, "Just let me know if there is something wrong or if you need anything for Chiharu."

That statement caused an awakard tension that settled among the two due to their past together.

Haru was planning to address the issue on their own terms, when she could only manage to get out his name, "Hayato" before hearing and feeling Chiharu wake up.

"Hey sweetie, did you enjoy your nap?" she asks after seeing Chiharu rub the sleep out of her eyes while looking around at her strange surroundings.

Instead of answering, Chiharu nods her head up and down to signal that she did, "Where we going?" "Our new home." Haru gave a simple answer to her two year old daughter who look as if she could doze off at any minute.

"Ya!" she gives her approval before looking around again.

_'Is he looking...'_ Haru glances up before seeing he did a brief glimpse before returning his attention to the road.

For some reason Haru finds herself pulling back a stray strand of her hair and tucking it behind her ear a tell tell sign that she was nervous.

0000

"Hey Takeshi, wait up." A voice calls out his name before the raven haired male turns to see his silver haired companion approach him.

"Sasagawa-sempai, what is it?" the male name Takeshi ask the man in front of him.

"I was calling your name but I guess you were in one of your deep thoughts and didn't hear me." Ryohei answers while observing his friend's face for signs of distress.

_'I was really out of it then.'_ Takeshi inwardly thought to himself.

"I apologize I had something on my mind from earlier." he told truthfully as he managed to look his friend in the face when he answered his question.

"Its alright. I was just checking on people before I left again for another trip to Italy." Ryohei explain his presence.

"So how is it over there, is it going as we hope?" Takeshi ask hoping to derail his friend thought process.

Ryohei thought about it, "It is. Are you sure there is something that is on your mind?"

"Do you remember when we went to the summer fesitival and I won that bear and I gave it to Haru?" Ryohei nods his head to tell him to keep going with his story.

"Well Hayato figured it out..." Takeshi answers his very own question while still addressing his other silver hair friend.

"So was there a confrontation between you two? Where did it happen at?" Ryohei inquires about the meaning of Takeshi's questions.

"No Haru, was going through her relationship issues and was sitting by herself in the hallway. She told me that Tsuna had recently informed her that she was to stay with Hayato while she is in Tokyo. So I end up telling her that she was still in love with him and I gave her hug that's when Hayato stepped in." Takeshi explain what all took place between Haru and himself.

"Talk about awakard...did anything else happen? With Hayato there is always more than meets the eye." Ryohei inquires of additional information from Takaeshi.

Takeshi releases a sigh before answering the question, "He told me he knew what happened at the summer festival."

"Oh thats good because it would have been tense between you two." he says while showing signs of relief.

"I just want those two to figure something out especially for Chiharu's sake." Takeshi answers when his thoughts return to the smaller verison of Haru, whose name is Chiharu.

"When Tsuna told us that while we were eating it all make sense on how she was behaving. I mean that little girl has some strong genes and blood running through her tiny body." Ryohei responds with an assure look on his face.

"You know we should just let whatever happen happen after all I feel like I am a gossiping teenage girl exchanging information." Takeshi states.

"I agree, its scaring me a little. Well then if I don't leave now then I won't make my flight in time. See you later Takeshi." Ryohei push pass him after leaving him with a cordial good bye.

_'Still I wonder...'_


	7. Chapter 7

Hayato decides to take Chiharu and Haru to one of his favorite places that served the best ice cream in the entire Tokyo area.

"Hey, are we going to Moko's Parlor?" Haru's voice was heard which causes his attention to shift from the road and onto the rear view mirror.

He places his index finger against his lips before pointing to where Chiharu was paying attention to her new surroundings.

Haru nods her head to show that she understands the plan and brings a small smile to her face when she remembers that he was always good with kids.

'_You would have thought for someone who frowned all the time he wouldn't be good with kids.' _She thought when she remembered how he had handled the terrible three stages with a firm voice and a promise of treats.

_FB Begins..._

It was community service that Kyoko offered for those in the family who need it, the catch was that they had to work with children under the age of six.

Hibari hated crowds and would be a threat since he would have beaten one of the children into a pulp if they touch him or even so much as to look his way. Ryohei had a boxing tournament that he had been working day in and day out for to get in shape. Takeshi had to help his father at the restaurant since there was this large party that they had to cater to and his dad needed all the help possible. Tsuna and his mom were out on a much needed vacation seeming as they hardly had time to spend together after earning the title of being the next true successor to Vongola family with the label of Tenth in tow. Lambo and I-Pin were involved in a rehearsal for a party so that left Hayato and Haru available.

It did not take too much convincing for Haru since she claim, "Haru loves kids and kids love Haru." Hayato tags along since Tsuna ask him to go and on top of that he secretly wanted to see how kids would react to Haru's weirdness.

"Thanks for picking me up." Haru tells him once he pulls up to the front of her home to pick her up for their day of community service.

She did not receive any answer in response but by that time then she already had a sense of how he would act around her.

The ride to the daycare was quiet as Haru sneaks in a nap seeing as she had to finish up a costume piece for a friend of hers last night.

"Hey, we are here." He tells her once he parks the car in the parking spot while shaking her arm gently.

She rubs her eyes with the back of her hand, "Haru did not know she had fallen asleep."

The pair made their way from the car and onto the pathway towards the front door of the daycare. "I am so _glad_ that you two showed up. I appreciate you for following through."

Hayato notice that Haru seem to spring to life once she sees her orange haired friend and enclose her in a hug. "Haru is always glad to help a dear and close friend to her."

He simply rolls his eyes as he was use to her random and sudden burst of energy. "Since its three of us, we have three choices: one can take the infants, one to three year olds and the other one has the four to five year olds."

"Oh Haru will take the one to three year olds!" Haru announce, which group she wants to spend time with.

"What about you Gokudera-san?" Kyoko poses towards the silver haired male who was standing with his hands in his pockets.

"I will take the four to five year olds." He claims when he noticed a sigh emit from Kyoko's mouth.

"Good because I can handle the infants." She responds as she was glad that she receive the group that she wanted.

She remembered seeing the older kids running around terrorizing the younger kids. He had that look on his face after witnessing what was happening before his eyes. "Freeze"

'_Like that would work Hayato.' _Haru thought to herself before seeing all the kids freeze in place.

The two girls watches in disbelief that the kids follow the order from Hayato, "Put your hands up if you are four?"

They watch as there were about six of them, "Line in front of me." He sees the kids were running towards him full speed and manage to form some sort of line.

"Five?" ten of them raises their hands before repeating the same action with the five year olds as they comply with his orders.

"We are going outside." He announces as that seem to raise their spirits as he lifts his hand. "Not until everyone finish a worksheet, puzzle, be able to count to five, and eat their treats. Deal?"

At first they seem intimidated at the deal but after they looked at each other for confirmation and a boost of their spirits they answered in a rousing tone of a "yes".

"Excuse me, but do you think you can work here? I haven't seen them act like this especially towards a complete stranger." The woman who runs the daycare approach the trio but directs her statement specifically towards Hayato.

It brings a smile to both of the girls face to see the silver haired man, who dubs himself as the self-proclaimed right hand man of the mafia renowned family handles children efficiently.

A ride over a pothole brings Haru out of her thoughts of the past when she leans over and look out the window to see a sign with elaborate pink cursive which reads "Moko's Parlor Shop"

Hayato parallel park the car in an empty spot next to the curb as Chiharu exclaims. "Yay, I get some ice cream!"

He unlocks the doors allowing access for the girls in the backseat to exit, "If you exit to your left then you will enjoy Moko's Parlor Shop."

Haru urges her daughter to exit to the left as she unbuckles her car seat and follows her mother's instructions.

"They have the best vanilla ice cream in the world!" Haru exclaims to her daughter with a wide smile on her face.

Chiharu grows excited at the notion and off of instinct reached for one of her mother's hand, "I want that."

Hayato walks ahead of them and opens the door allowing easy access for the two females, "Thank you Mr. Hayato." "Thanks"

"No problem Ms. Chiharu." "You are welcome." He returns the two separate thanks before entering into the medium size ice cream parlor.

Unbeknownst to Chiharu, Haru and Hayato felt as if they had stepped back in time once they crosses Moko's entrance threshold.

This used to always be their hideout spot whenever they felt like they needed a break from the real world buying ice cream cones or sharing one big sundae and discussing what was going on in their daily lives.

"Welcome to Moko's Parlor Shop. How may I help you?" a guy working behind the counter ask Haru after approaching the counter.

Haru hoist Chiharu up onto her left hand hip so Chiharu could see what all Moko's had to offer for human consumption.

Hayato swears he had seen Chiharu's pupils dilate when she looks at the "Over 32 flavors of ice cream" sign that she was speechless so instead of voicing what she want she points to it instead.

"Do you want the cone, bowl or the waffle?" Haru inquires while pointing to each item with its respective names.

"That one." Chiharu points to the cone as the worker picks up the cone and ice cream scooper and scoops up one circle of vanilla ice cream and places it onto the hole of the cone.

"Can Haru have two scoops? One with chocolate chips and the other being vanilla all on a cone?" Haru places her order with Chiharu still sitting on her hip.

"Yes Haru may," He responds after hearing Haru answering in third person and thought it was funny to reply back.

Once he finish completing their order he made his way down back to Hayato, "And what can I get for you sir?"

"Two scoops of Superman ice cream in a small bowl." He supplies a answer to the man's question in a nonchalant manner.

"How will you be paying for this ma'am?" the cashier inquires on Haru's form of payment for the ice cream.

'_I haven't even converted my money over yet.' _She pause in answering the question when she realizes that she only had American currency.

"Cash" Hayato's voice was heard answering the question while breaking her out of her thoughts.

He pays for the ice cream while Haru place Chiharu back on her feet so she could juggle the ice cream cones in her hand.

"Do you want to stay inside or sit outside, Ms. Chiharu?" Hayato poses towards Chiharu seeing as she was the one who ask for ice cream.

She looks toward her mother before asking her, "Can we sit outside mommy? Please?"

Haru glances up toward Hayato who seem determine to fulfill whatever Chiharu's request would be. "I don't see why we can't go outside on such a beautiful day."

"Outside it is." He declares as she beam him a smile before they make their way to the outside portion of the café.

After locating some available seats, Haru opt to stay close to Chiharu as she was not yet comfortable with being in very close proximity of the silver haired male _yet_.

"Next time we are here, Ms. Chiharu you should try a Moko's Mega Manical." He speaks to her while pointing his pink spoon in her direction.

He glances over to see a brief smile appear and then disappear from her face when he says that. "Mommy, what is that?"

"It's this large glass with of a lot of ice cream, which is enough to feed five people. It has whipped cream, chocolate syrup and the cherry on top of course not to mention other consumable goodies. Haru has only had it three times my entire life and they are so good!" Haru use her hands to describe how big the glass was.

"Wow that is _big_!" Chiharu exclaims after pausing from consuming her own ice cream.

"Now Ms. Chiharu, do you think you can handle something like that?" Hayato poses her after finishing one of his scoops of ice cream.

He notices she had paused for a minute as if to think of the best way to answer it, "Yep."

"We will see…" he pause in his statement when Chiharu speaks up again, "Mr. Hayato?"

"Yes, what is it Ms. Chiharu?" he ask her in a polite manner after hearing her use his name in a polite manner.

"How old are you?" she inquires about his age while still focusing on enjoying her ice cream as well.

"Well Mr. Hayato is twenty-five years old, how old are you Ms. Chiharu?" he answers before asking her the same question again not realizing that he had given his answer in third person similar to what Haru would do.

Chiharu holds up two fingers to symbolize the number two. "I'm two."

That cause Hayato to glance over at Haru who seem focus on finishing her own ice cream cone.

"You know Ms. Chiharu, you are very bright." Hayato answer, which cause a wide smile to appear on her face in the process.

"Thank you Mr. Hayato." Chiharu thank Hayato for the compliment as he places his spoon in a now empty bowl.

"Haru," she hears Hayato calling her name with no honorifics attach to it as it feels a little weird at first.

"Yes. What is it?" She ask him not even using his name in her question.

"You seem to be zoning out while Ms. Chiharu and I are having a nice conversation with one another. Isn't that right Ms. Chiharu?" He poses his question to Chiharu.

"Mr. Hayato is very funny!" Chiharu adds with her eyes close and a wide grin on her face which cause something to resurface in her mind before forcing it to disappear.

"Sorry, Haru has a lot of things on her mind but yes Chiharu, Mr. Hayato is very funny." Haru agrees with her daughter's statement about Hayato.

'_Please stop asking her questions…' _she thought to herself as she was trying to send mental messages to Hayato but it seem to fail.

The whole time that they were there the two got to know each other very well. Chiharu found out that Mr. Hayato is funny and smart and vice versa.

"Did you convert your money over to yen?" Hayato inquires about the money that she was currently traveling with on her.

"No, I haven't gotten around to that yet." Haru answers his question after she finishes up her first scoop of ice cream.

"Do you need to go to the bank today to exchange the money? We already have to stop by there to pick up our deposit money for the apartment." Hayato asks her before tossing his bowl into the trashcan.

"Well I guess it seems as if I have no choice." Haru says almost in a dejected tone before she starts to bit into the cake cone.

Chiharu just sits there and observe the older adults back and forth with one another with a look of curiosity evident on her face. "Is the ice cream delicious, Chiharu?"

She nods her head up and down when she starts to bite into her very own cone, "Yes mommy."

Haru repeats the action that her daughter did finding it to be very cute. _'I wonder how my mother and father are doing.'_

Hayato can tell Haru had that far off look in her face after talking to her daughter, _'There is something on her mind.'_

"Mommy," her daughter brings her out of her thoughts about Hayato.

"When can we go home?"


	8. Chapter 8

Tsuna enjoys the breeze that hit his face when he had the feeling that someone join him out onto the walkway with him.

"Ah Chrome-chan, how are you doing?" He greets the young woman who was present at his side.

"I am fine. Mukuro-sama just sent me a message from Italy saying that he will be back within a couple of days." Chrome answers before taking a seat on the wooden platform.

'_How could I forget about Mukuro-san?' _Tsuna ask himself as he mentally slaps himself for not paying more attention to his comrades in arms.

"That is good to hear. So are you enjoying the day so far?" He inquires hoping to keep their conversation afloat since they were not able to talk in a minute.

"It is good to be out here, boss. It seems as if everyone is out today…is Kyoko-chan still in?" Chrome ask while looking up at the sky.

"She went out to do the grocery shopping. She didn't want to wake you from your slumber since you looked tired from last night." Tsuna answer while placing his hands in his dress pants pockets.

"It is a nice day to be out and about but I think I will stay here for a little while longer." Chrome answers with her eyes close.

'_Yeah…I just hope those two don't kill each other in the process.' _Tsuna thought to himself while holding his head down so that his chin touches his suit.

0000

Haru places her chin against her prop up arm as she sigh at the passing scenery while her daughter seem too busy taking actual delight in her new surroundings.

'_And so here it starts the new chapter in my life with the silver haired bombing demon of the Vongola family…again.' _She thought as she mentally dread each yard they pass to get closer to the apartment.

"Since we have two bedrooms, do you want me to take the living room?" Hayato inquires while he continue to focus on safely taking them to their intend destination.

"Haru thinks that that would be best or Chiharu and Haru can share a room while Hayato gets the other." Haru answer in a nonchalant tone.

Hayato can tell by the tone of her voice that she was annoy by having to go through the entire verifying process at the bank and reopening her frozen account.

"Look, I understand for your first day back home that it was a long one but its better we got this done now then not doing it all. So tomorrow you can just enjoy yourself along with Chiharu." Hayato states before turning at green arrow traffic light.

Haru knows that if she look at him now he would make her confess things she was not ready to confess or at least her heart was not ready to tell.

Chiharu seem to clap at the bright vibrant colors and shriek at all the new things that seem to catch her attention while her mother continues to dread the anxiousness she feels for arriving "home".

Hayato pulls into the parking lot of the apartment and makes a brief stop at the rent office to make the down payment for the apartment that they just sign for from earlier.

"Our apartment number is 113 so that means we are towards the back of the complex." Hayato announce once he reappears in the car.

"So are you ready to see our new home?" Haru inquires about her daughter's pending interest on going to a new home and receive her answer in the forms of claps and yays.

Once they found a decent parking spot, Chiharu nearly flew out of the car if it wasn't for her current restraints that came in the form of her car seat.

Haru makes her way around the trunk while Hayato was making his way towards the trunk when they slightly brush right pass each other.

'_Why must we torture ourselves with the presence of one another?' _the two share similar thoughts before focusing on their respective tasks.

"Mommy, we home?" Chiharu inquires while observing her surroundings with wide eyes and a wide toothy grin.

"Alright, are we all ready to go and see what is inside?" Hayato inquires to the two females that were in his accompaniment.

Chiharu squeals again in delight as Haru had to tighten her hold on her so she would not fall out of her arms and hit her head on the concrete. She makes her way behind Hayato as she did not feel comfortable enough to walk in front of him either.

Hayato eyes pass by the numbers as they continue on down the corridor while the numbers on the door increase as well. _'110…111…112…'_

"Here we go!" Hayato announces to the girls who pause behind him as he produce the key that he was given to by the rent office.

Haru was slow to take in the entire apartment as it feels as if she was walking through the first apartment that they share as a couple…who were in love with one another.

_"Hey, how do you think the apartment would look?" Haru ask while placing the key inside of the knob and looking up at Hayato at the same time._

_"We will never know until you open the door." Hayato answers with his eyes towards the awaiting door to be open by Haru._

_"You spoiled Haru's fun." Haru pouts before unlocking the door and push it open allowing easy entrance for the both of them._

_"Wow this is so nice…" Haru says while standing directly in front of the apartment door preventing Hayato from entering while she was still in her daze._

_"I would like to see the apartment too." He tells her, which cause her to take a step to the left allowing him access into the apartment as well._

_"You are right...this is nice." Hayato express his approval of the apartment after closing the door shut with his foot behind him._

_"Oh it's just perfect!" Haru exclaim before glomping Hayato in one of her hugs as he had to balance himself so he would not come crashing to the floor._

_"Hey woman you almost made me fall!" Hayato exclaim before glancing down to see her snuggling her face into his side._

_He release a sigh before ruffling up her hair and replied, "Alright go along and play."_

_Haru rejoice with hearing the response she want and quickly takes off through the apartment as if she was a little child on the playground._

Hayato shakes his head in disbelief at her energy before thinking to himself, _'What have I gotten myself into?'_

'_It almost feels as if…'_ Hayato could not finish his thought when Chiharu's reaction brought him out of his reflection of the past.

Haru had the urge to lean over and ruffle her daughter's hair and tell her to "go along and play." But instead she reach for her hair as if she was in a daze.

'_What am I doing? That was all in the past…pull through Haru you have Chiharu to worry about.' _Haru mentally thought to herself before returning her hand back to her side.

Hayato decides to remain silent on what he just witness as it cause a sense of hope to turn into a spark that she remember the memories that they share…_together._

"Alright go along and play." He tells her when he stroll past her with their items underneath his arms and in his hands.

This cause a blush to appear on her face as she covers her mouth with her right hand to prevent herself from admitting to something that was still so raw.

Chiharu, who was still basking in the joy of moving into a new home, open and close every door that was present in the house, exclaiming oohs and ahs when something stuck out to her as odd but entertaining and hopping on and off the furniture that seems springy or encourage the verb of jumping.

"Now…now...Chiharu come down from there or you might hurt yourself. Your mother would be very upset with me if she knew you were hurt." Hayato announces when he sees Chiharu jumping up and down on the mattress.

Chiharu cease her actions and slide down the side of the mattress as if it were a slide and land gently on her dainty feet.

"You should go and see your mommy. She is waiting for you in the living room." Hayato suggest for the little brown haired girl.

"Okay then," she answers before running towards the direction her mother were sitting at.

He could not help but to partake in Chiharu's shared emotions of joy before he thought to himself _'I wonder where her father is?'_

'_That's none of your business Hayato. Keep your head focused on protecting Chiharu and Haru.' _He thought to himself but there still were some lingering thoughts in his character.

0000

Haru places her head in her hands as she begins to wonder how long she will being able to maintain her façade around the innocent Chiharu and would she be able to hide one of her skeletons in her closet from the probing silver haired dynamite Mafioso.

"Mommy!" the sound of her daughter's voice and small footsteps can hear breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, what is it?" she ask her daughter with a matching smile of joy direct at her bundle of joy.

"I love you." The two year old speaks with no hesitation in her tone.

"Mommy loves her Chiharu as well." Haru respond to her child's sudden declaration of love direct for her.

"So do you like the house so far?" Haru ask her daughter, who seem to be observing the living room, before she face her mother again.

She nods her head up and down at a rapid pace. Haru was surprise her daughter was not even a little woozy before making her way up onto the couch.

"Good because this is where we will be staying from now on, okay?" she tells her daughter while she was fixing her daughter's wrinkly clothes.

Chiharu lunge forward and encompass her arms around her mother's neck before responding with a "Ya!"

Haru simply leans back and release a deep sigh of release while Chiharu runs around exploring her new home again. _'I definitely need to call my mother when I buy a new phone.'_

Hayato notice the brunette haired girl react with her daughter before placing her back on the couch and let out a deep sigh. _'So she has been taking care of Chiharu all this time…I wonder why Chiharu's father hasn't call her yet let only come to Japan with them.'_

He shakes his head once again as his inquisitive nature was once again starting to get the best of him now. _'I just want to go back to the headquarters and lie in my own room.'_

Haru feels the weight on the couch shift opposing from her which meant that _he_ was sitting next to her, "So are you enjoying the apartment so far?"

'_Once again you are asking a question you already know the answer too.' _She thought to herself before answering the question. "It seems as if Chiharu has taken a liking to it so Haru agrees with her daughter."

"You know you don't always have to agree just because it's your daughter. How do you feel about the apartment _yourself_?" Hayato inquires as he knows Haru did not feel the way her statement came off.

She face him before proclaiming, "Look it has been a long day and Haru doesn't like being questioned. If Chiharu is happy then Haru is happy as well!"

Hayato can tell that she was tired. Since she would often have a short temper that even rival his own when she did not receive her proper amount of sleep. "Calm down woman! What you need to do is take a nap!"

That statement catches her off guard, "You are right. I haven't slept in the past two days since I been so worried about…"

'_Why did she stop in the middle of her sentence?' _he thought to himself when he sees Haru making her way to the bedroom that she was going to share with her daughter.

"Haru" He calls out to her but she did not seem to acknowledge it and continue to walk ahead without looking back to acknowledge her name.

Hayato notice that she close the door once she cross the threshold of one of the bedroom doors.

'_So it seems as if I hit a land mine with her.' _He thought to himself before hearing the sound of a little two year old girl running around in new surroundings.

"Chiharu!" he shouts the little girl's name.


	9. Chapter 9

Kyoko was prosing through the aisles of the grocery, picking up, and placing the items that were written on her list in her grocery cart.

'_I wonder how Haru and Gokureda-kun is holding up with one another?' _she asks herself before reaching for the last item that was on her list.

'_I know it will be hard for Haru to get along with Gokureda-kun but that's how they always were with one another.' _

'_I am done here.' _She inwardly thought to herself as she pushes the two baskets full of items towards the front where the checkout stations were.

"Ma'am, I can take you over here." A cashier catches her attention as she was about to pass a non-operating station.

Kyoko let out a sigh of relief as she felt lucky that she would not have to hold up anyone else nor have to wait in a long line.

She begins to remove the items from her carts and place them on the black stripe of the conveyor belt that moves the items towards the cashier.

After a couple of minutes of unpacking, scanning, placing the items in the bags, and back into the shopping cart, the total cost of what all she had purchase finally appears in red numbers.

"Will that be all for your purchases, ma'am?" the cashier asks to see if there were any additional purchases that Kyoko would like to add in.

"Yes." Kyoko answers while she looks at the final total cost.

'_$250.67, that's not bad.' _Kyoko thought to herself as she reaches inside of her purse and pulls out a credit card and hands it to the cashier.

"Would you like any help with your bags, ma'am?" the cashier asks while the receipt begins to print before snatching it from the machine and handing her back the card and the receipt to her.

Kyoko still wearing a smile on her face responds with "I would greatly appreciate it."

0000

Chiharu pause in her terror when she hears someone calls her by her name before coming face-to-face with none other than Mr. Hayato.

"What are you doing young lady?" he asks with a sense of sternness in his tone when he sees the two year old causing trouble.

Chiharu stares at what she was doing before looking back at the taller silver haired man before saying "Sorry."

"It's alright." He tells the toddler with a small smile on his face which causes her to laugh in delight that she was not in too much trouble.

'_I wonder where her father is?' _the same question he thought form earlier arise back in his head once again.

"Play?" Chiharu inquires towards Hayato.

'_Haru would kill me if I take her out of the apartment without her permission.' _He inwardly thought to himself since he knew how children were with too much energy in a closed space. Then again, he remembers how stern Haru can become when it comes down to Chiharu's well-being.

"I have to ask your mommy, okay?" Hayato tells the toddler before holding up his index finger to signal her one minute.

Hayato makes his way over to the room where Haru had locked herself in and paused at the door. _'What would she think of me?'_

He raises his arm with his fist hovering over the door as if second guessing whether or not to knock on the door.

0000

Haru sits with her back against the door, her head in her hands, and a throbbing temple on both sides of her head.

She releases a rough sigh before placing her head backwards until she can feel the back of her head touch the door.

'_You know crying doesn't suit you woman. Suck it up!' _she remembered what Hayato told her one day when she failed a very important class.

"Here are all your exams. If you have below a C there is a chance for you to make it up later." The professor tells his class full of students.

Haru waited in anticipation for her paper when the sight of papers was present on her row she countdown how many people were on her row and even timed when her paper would reach her.

'_I hope that the study guide I got worked.' _She thought in wonderment before seeing her paper five people away from her.

When she receives her paper it was folded in half with a bright red letter on it. Haru closes her eyes before she opens it as, "Please be an A. Please be an A." was her mantra before she opens it up to see…a C.

Haru felt her heart drop when she saw the C on the paper. _'Oh no…'_

"Class dismissed." The professor announces as Haru was still stun at the fact she got that letter choice.

The instant she got back to the apartment that she shared with Hayato, she broke down in a river full of her very own tears.

She did not even hear the door open and close nor the greeting Hayato shouts when he arrived home.

"What are you crying about now?" he asks once he spots her curled up in the fetal position on the couch with balled up tissue scattered every where in the living room.

"I failed…an important…test today!" she manage to speak in between her sobs while she reaches for more tissue.

Hayato rolls his eyes as this seem like the normal behavior for Haru, whenever she would fail a test. She would come in, curl up on the couch, cry her eyes out, and use up all of their tissue.

"I swear we have to keep tissue by the dozens around here. You go through like twelve boxes in one of these fits." Hayato says but Haru drowns it out with her sobs.

"It's over! I am going to flunk out of the class!" Haru cries out before blowing into the sheet of tissue paper.

'_If I don't stop this now we won't have any tissue paper left for the rest of the week.' _Hayato thought to himself before making his way over to Haru.

"You know crying doesn't suit you, woman. Suck it up!" he told her in a very nonchalant tone.

Haru was caught off guard with Hayato's uncaring tone as she stifled her sniffing noises. "I'll help you study for the test."

She sniffs some more, "You will?"

"I won't if you keep acting like a child. Deal?" Hayato asks Haru, who seem interest in the terms of the deal.

She nods her head up and down fast as she was no longer visibly upset at the fact that she had a "C" on her quiz.

After all it's not every day that Hayato extend out a helpful hand in her studies that is unless she cried and sulked the entire day.

"Thank you. I owe you one." She tells him before placing a kiss on Hayato's cheek before making her way off of the sofa.

'_I swear this chick has some loose screws…' _he thought after seeing his girlfriend speedy recover from being sad.

A small smile appears on Haru's face after remembering another fond memory that she shared with Hayato.

Sounds of knocking brings her attention to the door as she scrambles to her feet to open the door remembering that she left Chiharu with Hayato.

0000

Hayato soon notice the door fly wide open with a look of concern on her face as he can tell that she was about to let him have it.

His reactions kick in due to his experiences in the Mafia and respond before she can even shout accusations at him.

"First off Chiharu is right behind me," he moves out of the way to show the tiny toddler sitting on the couch causing her to release her breath.

"Second, she is full of energy and close spaces don't mix well with children. We can take her to the park if that's fine by you?"

'_How could I be so selfish? I was drowning in my own pain and I haven't taken care of my child.' _She thought to herself with a look of concern on her face.

"Sure, let's go." Haru answers after thinking about her child's happiness before her own desires.

Hayato raise an eyebrow at Haru's rush expression but could not question her quick answer since she walk right past him and towards Chiharu.

"Mr. Hayato take us to park?" Chiharu stammers a little due to her hopping down from the couch and running to meet her halfway.

Haru pats the top of her daughter's head of hair before looking towards the direction of where Hayato was standing.

"I know kids." He simply mouth to her while shrugging his shoulders up and down at the look he was receiving.

Haru knew he meant well and made a mental note to thank Hayato for what he had done for Chiharu.

She pats the stray curls that were visible on her daughter's hair before answering with "Alright that's fine. We are going."

0000

A man was walking along a hidden bunker before being allows them to pass by someone who greets him.

The man then strolls down the aisle of the bunker corridor before approaching the door with no labels or sign plates.

They knock on the door before been giving a "Come in" signaling that they were allowed to enter.

"I got what you were looking for." the person who enters the room, flashes the person who was sitting behind a desk, a pocketed file.

"Ah good," the person behind the desk exclaim. "Bring it over to me. I need to see if they came through on the goods."

"I don't know boss. I haven't even opened it yet." The person answers before handing their boss the file.

They watch as their boss pop the flap open before reaching inside and pulling out multiple glossy photos that were eight by ten.

"So what is that you ask for boss?" the person standing in the room inquires while observing their boss viewing the pictures.

"Why don't you look at them for yourself?" they say before placing the photos along the top portion of their desk.

"Ah boss, don't tell me your are into children?" the person standing asks after looking at the pictures that had the same little girl in each and every photo.

"What you are looking at, is our next acquisition for our quest to power." The person behind the desk states before pointing to a particular picture.

"You may not see this but my scouts receive a strong reading of flames from this little girl. For her to show this much natural raw energy for a girl her age, we have to acquire this child!" The person behind the desk answers their subordinate's question.

"So who is this lady that shows up in majority of the pictures?" their subordinate inquires before pointing out the same woman in some of the photos.

"The scouts also say something about this woman being the mother of the girl. She is of no importance to us but in order to have the little girl on our side we have to acquire them both." Their boss answers their question.

"Not only that but it seems to work out in our favorite with our location. We have to continue collecting information on this child before we can make our move." The boss adds in.

"Rumors has it that this chick right there…" he points to the lady again, "is involved with some heavy hands in the black market."

"The black market…so you say?" the boss asks his subordinate before staring at the lady's identity closer.

"I think its time to see whether or not the rumors are true? Are you up for a little field trip?" the boss speaks up again as a plan continue to formulate in his head.

"Sure…why not? I've been bored lately anyway." The subordinate agrees with going along with their boss.


	10. Chapter 10

Hayato, Haru and Chiharu arrive at a nearby park that seems to be bustling with toddlers around Chiharu's age and the parents maintaining a protective sense over not just their children but others as well.

"Play!" Chiharu proclaims while watching the activities that were going on around her from the backseat of the car.

Hayato then slowly pulls into the parking lot prepared for any random child to run out so he creeps to find an empty parking spot between two mini-vans.

Haru could not help but to absorb someone of Chiharu's never ending energy since it seem she never had enough anymore.

Once the couple and the child emerge from the car, Hayato squats to Chiharu's level so now that they were face to face with one another.

"Here are the rules young lady…no wondering off by yourself, don't talk to strangers, and if there's something wrong come see me or your mother about it. Deal?" he instructs her when he sticks out his right pinkie towards the little girl.

Chiharu glances up at her mother, who wore a stern look on her face, before facing Hayato and wrapping her left pinkie around his.

"She's already to go now." Hayato declares towards Haru while rising back to his original height.

Haru nods her head before the couple advances forward until they reach the surface of the park and its entrance.

Hayato notices that Haru was hesitant on releasing Chiharu's hand from within her grasp. "It's alright. You aren't alone anymore."

His statement catches her off-guard causing her to release her grip on her daughter's hand before seeing her run in a mad dash towards the playground.

Haru felt as if she needed to have Chiharu within the length of her arms so that she can quickly grab her and run if danger approaches them.

"Haru…I'm going to need for you to breathe." Hayato remains her as she takes in a quick breathe of fresh air.

"Haru can't do this. She needs to be by Haru's side." Haru proclaims before taking a step forward only to be stopped by Hayato's hand on her shoulder.

"You can stay near but let her at least have a childhood." Hayato suggests to her after seeing the look of fear on Haru's face.

Haru then hears Chiharu giggling along with a small group of children before chasing each other around the playground.

"Haru is such a horrible mother. Haru didn't even let Chiharu experience her childhood." Haru sniffles at her sudden realization.

Hayato knew from experiences that whenever Haru start sniffling that tears were soon to follow so he act fast to comfort her.

He gently tugs her shoulder back so that her face was against his chest. "If you are going to cry make it fast. After all crying doesn't suit you woman. Suck it up!"

Haru was caught of guard by his statement as the tears begin to freely flow from her eyes while her hands grasp Hayato's shirt with her hands.

0000

Kyoko manages to make it back home in little to no time since the grocery store was not too far away from her home.

"Welcome back Lady Kyoko." Her husband's subordinates greet her once she arrives with a couple of the grocery bags in her hand.

She returns the greeting before asking, "There are more groceries in the car. Can you grab them and bring them into the kitchen?"

The men answers in perfect unison with a "Yes ma'am."

"Kyoko-chan" she hears two familiar voices calling her name before being approach by none other than Lambo and Ipin.

"Did you get them?" the two of them asks her with hopeful looks on their face as they eyed the bags in her grasp.

Kyoko stares at them hard, "Do you mean these?" she inquires while digging in one of the plastic bags and producing the item that the two request her to pick up for them.

She notices that there were stars in their eyes when they say "Thank you. Kyoko-chan is the best!"

A wide smile appears on her face after hearing their comment before they take off running throughout the house once again.

''_I swear…those two are still full of energy at their age.' _Kyoko thought after witnessing Lambo and Ipin's reactions.

"Welcome back home dear." She hears another greeting before turning her attention towards her husband.

"Thank you. I'm glad to see that you are getting more sun." Kyoko responds with a wide smile on her face.

Tsuna nods his head up and down before asking his wife a question, "Have you talked to Haru at all today?"

Kyoko shakes her left and right, "No. I was going to call her once I placed all of the groceries down."

"Do you really think that I was wrong for letting the others know?" Tsuna questions his wife with his hands in his pockets.

Kyoko knew her husband was quite serious with asking his questions dealing with humanity towards her.

"On a personal tip, Haru confined solely to you and not the others but if you felt that it was necessary for the others to know incase something may happen then I can't blame you for that either."

He steps down from the platform and walks towards her before placing a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you. I needed that."

Tsuna grabs some of the bags from Kyoko's hand before guiding his wife back into the house.

0000

Meanwhile on the street ways of Tokyo, an ominous black car with black tinted windows pulls to a red colored traffic light

"So boss, are you going to tell me why we need this little girl?" the driver directs his question to the individual in the backseat.

"The child is perfect as the power source for our new little project." The man in the back explains to his driver.

"Don't you think it is a little weird? That the child has not had a ring placed on her finger to conceal her powers?" the driver presents his view.

"I have that same thought process as well…" the man in the back pauses in his statement. "that is why we are going to do a little recon. Did you bring what I ask you to bring?"

The driver reaches into the passenger seat before flashing the rider a item in his hand. "Good. Now set it up so we can be on our way."

0000

Haru watches her daughter running around with a wide smile evident on her while sitting on a nearby green park bench.

'_I can't believe that I cried in front of him…again.' _ She inwardly thought while cutting her eyes over to Hayato.

The silver haired man chose to stand rather than to sit down on the park bench with a deep look apparent on his face.

"So when did you start to receive them?" Hayato suddenly ask Haru catching her attention.

"Receive what?" Haru ask to clarify what Hayato was asking her while maintaining her attention on her daughter.

"The death threats?" he specifies his question while reaching for a stick of gum from his pocket once a craving for nicotine hit him.

"This year. Ever since Chiharu turn two the letters keep rolling in." Haru supplies an answer before easing out on the bench.

"Do you recall exactly when they were sent to you?" he asks as he was trying to create a timeline of events before placing the stick of gum in his mouth.

"I think it was when I took her to a park one day and when I got back home it was sitting in my mailbox." Haru recalls from her memory.

'_That's why she was hesitant about the park…_' Hayato thought as realization hit him.

"Thank you for answering my questions. If I brought up any bad memories then I apologize." Hayato thanks the girl to his left.

Haru simply shakes her left and right before responding with, "It's alright…Haru thinks you are just doing your job."

Hayato can feel his cell phone vibrating against his left leg before reaching for it to see that it was none other than Kyoko calling him.

"Hello?"

"This is he…"

"They both are fine…"

"Why would you think that I'm lying to you? I swear everything is fine."

"I'll ask her. Hold on…"

Hayato breaks away from the phone before turning towards Haru. "Kyoko invites us to dinner tonight."

"That's fine." Haru provides a simply answer to Hayato's question.

"Add room for three."

"Yeah, I understand that."

"See you then."

Hayato ends the phone call before returning the cell phone to his pockets. "It seems as if everyone is in good spirits ever since you arrive back."

'_Even you?' _Haru wanted to ask but she still was a little fragile from their broken relationship.

_'So am I...' _Hayato inwardly says to himself while observing her actions to his statement.

"That's good. Do you think we can swing by my parents' home tomorrow? I just want to make sure that they are alright." Haru poses to Hayato.

"I don't see why not. I haven't seen them in ages so it would be good to catch up with them." Hayato answers her question.

Haru decides to remain silent since she was causing more harm to herself by speaking.

Her moment of silence did not last long when she notices Chiharu walking towards her instead of running.

"Mommy," Chiharu says after stopping in front of Haru as panic begins to surge through her body. _'Did something happen to her? I was watching her the whole time._ "I'm sleepy."

A smile appears on her face after looking at her daughter rubbing her eyes with the back of both of her hands.

"We are going to go and visit Aunt Kyoko and Uncle Tsuna so we can eat. Are you hungry?" Haru informs her daughter of the rest of their plans.

Chiharu nods her head up and down slowly before Haru picks her daughter up and places her on her hip.

After making sure Chiharu was safe and secure, Haru turns to face Hayato before telling him. "We are ready."

"So let's get going." Hayato says to her before allowing Haru to pass by him before pausing to observe his surroundings.

'_Something's not right…' _he thought to himself while still looking at what was going on around him.

"Boss, we found the target. It seems as if that woman is her mother." The driver announces before placing a pair of binoculars down on their lap.

"Good. We have what we need lets go." The rider orders to the driver.

"Yes, sir." The driver answers before shifting the car from the "P" for park to the "D" for drive and merging off into traffic.

_'I must have been imagining something then...' _Hayato downplays his previous thought before following behind Haru and Chiharu

0000

The Vongola headquarters was a little busy due to the fact that Kyoko was preparing for dinner while some of the other guardians retired to their respective hobbies.

Tsuna makes his way to the cloud guardian portion of the house as a slight chill crept up and down his spine.

'_No matter how many times I come here…I get the same feeling every time.' _Tsuna thought while putting on a brave face hoping that Kyoya would not smell his fear.

"Hibari-san?" Tsuna calls out to the raven-haired male before feeling a presence behind him.

"Eek" he quickly recovers from the shock of being scared by Kyoya. "Your reactions still suck."

Tsuna releases his hands from his mouth and a sigh of relief at the same time. "You just like doing that don't you."

He swore a smirk appears on Kyoya's face but it vanishes just as quickly as it showed. "Anyway, did you find out about the situation?"

Kyoya did not immediately answer the question instead he walks pass Tsuna signaling to him to follow him.

"It seems that due to that child's natural ability to produce extremely powerful flames that she probably caught the interest of someone who wants to manipulate that power. After all, the child wears no ring to conceal the powers inside of her. Now exactly who wants her I don't know yet. However you assigned the proper guard dog for the both of them." Kyoya informs Tsuna of the information that he acquires within the time period.

'_So someone wants her…' _Tsuna thought, as he had to think over their plans for their future movements.


	11. Chapter 11

The drive to the Vongola's headquarters was another ride in silence with little to no conversation among the people in the car.

'_I was able to see my daughter smile and play with kids her age.' _Haru thought while observing her daughter napping in the car seat.

'_And it is all because of that man driving you around as if he is your chauffeur…' _her conciseness chimes in.

"So what do you think that Kyoko would be making for dinner tonight?" Hayato inquires hoping to at least start a conversation.

Haru shrugs her shoulders up and down; "I do trust her cooking since I use to help her out in the kitchen."

'_That's right. She even cooked for me when we were in college.' _He recalls after hearing Haru's statement.

"I don't mean to bring up the past at this time but I never thanked you for spending time cooking for me even though I did not show it." Hayato claims knowing that he was treading back into the minefield.

Haru's voice was caught in her throat causing a lump to form there. She clears her throat hoping her voice would not crack when she spoke to him. "It's no problem."

Hayato releases a sigh realizing that he had once again build up Haru's wall of defense whenever he would mention their past.

'_You should just give up. Everything you have been doing you just screw it up.' _He thought to himself before pulling into the driveway of the Vongola's headquarters.

"Well we have arrived at our destination." He announces to Haru, who releases the seatbelt from around her waist with a push of the red button.

Haru leans over towards Chiharu and unhook the seatbelt from her body so she can easily pick her up in her arms.

Hayato patiently waits until Haru and Chiharu safely exited the car before closing the door for them and placing the lock then the alarm on the car,

"Hey there, Takeshi!" Haru proclaims after seeing the Rain Guardian make his way around the corner.

'_So she will greet Takeshi but scared to look me in the face.' _Hayato thought after following the brunette haired woman in front of him.

The man name Takeshi pause and turn to face the direction of the caller to see that it was Haru along with Chiharu in tow and Hayato close behind them.

A thought pass through his head of the two before deciding that it was not the appropriate time to voice his thought.

Instead he greets the both of them with his easy going smile on his face, "Hey Haru and Hayato,"

"Are you just now getting here too?" Haru poses not aware of the growing tension between the two close friends.

Takeshi nods his head, "Yeah, I just finished up the last shift at the restaurant a couple of minutes ago."

'_That's right he did take over his father's restaurant after his untimely death.' _ Haru remembers.

"If you need someone to cover a shift for you then you can ask me. I mean I am really not doing anything to work related since getting back." Haru mentions.

Takeshi can feel Hayato staring a hole that was aimed directly at his heart for an instant kill, "I will keep that offer in mind."

Haru watches as Takeshi takes his leave before having the urge to glance back at Hayato, _'I think it would be best if I keep straight ahead.'_

The awkward moment that she had developed was still there until the sight of Kyoko's orange bob emerges from the kitchen.

"Ah, Haru, Hayato, you made it just in time." She declares with a wide smile on her face before facing the open door after hearing her name.

"Alright, I will tell him then." She tells the person in the room before facing the pair again with the same smile on her face.

"Hayato, Tsuna says he needs help with some of the dishes." Kyoko relays Tsuna's message onto Hayato.

"Excuse me," he says loud enough before he passes Haru so he could have enough room to make his way around her.

'_There is something wrong with him…' _she thought to herself while observing his actions.

"Haru," Kyoko calls out to her closes friend catching her attention, "let's get going."

Haru nods her head before stepping forward until she was in a walking stride towards the dining room area.

Kyoko notices that another car had pulled up once Haru entered the dining room, _'Oh they made it just in time.' _

0000

Hayato was tasked with moving some of the heavier items due to his enhance physique that he acquired after being left with a broken heart.

"How is the mission going?" Tsuna's question breaks him out of his thoughts after grabbing the rice maker.

Hayato pause after he approach the small size grill, "She's still breathing and Chiharu is with her, so I think its going well.

Tsuna can tell that Hayato's tone held sarcasm when he supplied his answer to his question. "So I take it is not an easy mission then."

"I mean come on now, Tenth. I was freaking in love with her! We even lived together! And the instant that I was going to propose to her she just up and left me and all I got was a note? Then two years later she comes back with a child in tow. Now just imagine yourself in my shoes." Hayato rants after slamming his hand over the grill.

"I would be lying if I said that I could. I simply can't imagine my life without Kyoko." Tsuna says almost in a whispered tone.

"That was exactly how I felt the very next morning and then I had to go on without her presence around me." Hayato admits after tightening his fists.

Tsuna releases a sigh, "If it is killing you this badly being around her maybe I can shift her guardianship over to Takeshi. He just finished up with his latest mission and he has spare time now."

"Do you agree to the exchange?" Tsuna inquires towards his silver haired friend.

'_Of all the people, Takeshi,' _Hayato inwardly thought to himself recalling the conversation that just happened between Haru and Takeshi.

"No!" he nearly screamed at the top of his lungs before pausing to scale down the amplitude in his voice

"I mean. Takeshi just told us that he had a busy day at the restaurant today and I don't think he will have enough time to watch out for her." Hayato explain attempting to sound calm while speaking.

"If you feel so _strongly _about it then I don't see why you can not still be assigned to the mission." Tsuna declares easing Hayato's tension in his body.

Without further complaining, Hayato places both of his hands on the handle of the grill before lifting it up with little to no struggle.

Tsuna observe his friend lug the black steal grill out of the kitchen and into the dining room.

"You know something Tsunayoshi Sawada, you can be a evil person sometimes." A familiar voice breaks him out of his thoughts.

"I just knew that his heart was not going to allow his mind to make such a rash decision." Tsuna claims while picking up the instant rice maker in his grasp.

'_The kid's is still growing up.' _The person thought.

0000

Kyoko stroll around the dining hall to make sure that everything was in the order that she would like.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Kyoko speaks up catching the individual's attention that were sitting at the table.

"We have a special guest that will be coming to enjoy dinner with us tonight." She announces before pointing to the shoji door.

A shadowy figure appeared behind the door before sliding it open and pokes their head in.

"Hello there everyone, did you miss me when I was gone?" a feminine voice inquires when the sight of purple locks enter their vision.

"Bianchi!" Lambo and Ipin shouts after realizing who the young lady was in front of them with orange goggles covering her eyes.

"Bianchi?" Haru question after seeing the older woman enter the room with a wide grin on her face wand her balled fist on both sides of her hips.

"What is onee-chan doing here?" Hayato find himself asking.

"Ah Hayato, don't treat the only sister that you have!" she proclaims with a fake scowl on her face.

Haru silently agreed with Hayato's question before noticing that Bianchi was facing her direction.

"Is that lovely spring sitting over there?" Bianchi inquires using her personal moniker for the young woman.

She blushes out of embarrassment before returning the personal greeting to the older woman, "Hey there,"

"Mommy," Chiharu tugs on her mother's shirtsleeve to catch her attention.

"Who's that adorable little girl sitting by you spring?" Bianchi ask an innocent question after taking her seat next to Haru.

"Chiharu, I want you to meet Aunt Bianchi," Chiharu begins the introduction, "Bianchi this is my daughter Chiharu."

'_Daughter?' _Bianchi ask herself making sure that she heard Haru correctly.

Her eyes cut cross the room until her eyes landed on her brother who still seem in shock of her presence.

"A thousand springs, huh? I think you have an affinity for the season of spring." Bianchi concludes with a small on her face and a hand outreached towards her.

The little girl gladly accepted the hand with a wide smile on her face; it was not until Bianchi got a closer look at the child did it hit her.

"Why you remind me …" Bianchi pause in her assessment causing everyone except Hayato to tense up after hearing her statement. "So much of your mother."

"So are we going to starve to death or are we going to eat some food?" Ryohei speaks up direct their attention on to the food.

'_Good save,'_ Tsuna and Kyoko shares similar thoughts before the exchanging of bowls begin and the sound of meat sizzling on the grill breaks the awkward moment.

'_I take it from Tsuna and the other's facial expression they know what I was going to say.' _Bianchi concluded to herself once a bowl landed in her hands.

'_I guess I will have to talk to him once the dinner is over with so until then I will enjoy this delicious food.' _

Haru did not expect for Bianchi to cause such a surprised stir at dinner tonight to the fact that she felt exposed for the others to see her innermost hidden dark secrets.

She just decided to focus in on feeding Chiharu enough food so that it can last her to the next day.

'_I'm just glad for the distraction that Ryohei-sempai provided.' _Haru thought once placing the bowl that was given to her on the table.

The rest of the dinner seem to fly by without any other odd moments and instead was filled with jovial conversation about what happen to each other today.

"Ah I see you grew your hair out, it looks nice on you." Bianchi compliments Haru after noticing the young girl's haircut.

"Thank you. You still have your same hairstyle from when I was younger." Haru claims.

Bianchi runs her fingers through her hair before looking at a strand of her hair in her hand. "Its easier for me to take care of when its like this."

"Anyway, enough about me, and more about you," Bianchi redirects the conversation back to the subject of Haru. "So how have you been able to transition from America and back to good old Tokyo?"

Haru steals a glance of Hayato lifting and moving the heavy items that he had brought out from earlier were going back into the kitchen.

'_I wonder why everyone was so tense at dinner?' _Hayato inquires to himself while he was placing the items back to their respective place.

"Thank you for helping out again." Kyoko thanked Hayato for helping once again.

"It's been a lot easier then I thought it would have been. I am just glad that everyone welcomed me back with such open arms and friendly greetings." Haru supplies an answer.


	12. Chapter 12

"I just want you to know that you are always welcomed back home, Haru. Actually, I'm glad you came back since I hardly had anyone to go with me whenever I would go to the cake store." Kyoko mentions to Haru.

Haru recalls the pair tradition as to spoil themselves at least twice a month with some delicious sweets from a local bakery.

A smile appears on Haru face before proclaiming "I guess it's never too late to start up the old tradition again with me."

Kyoko eyes widen with joy and anticipation as to the revival of their old routine, "That would be...amazing!"

Haru silently nods her head at her close friend statement before returning their attention to their task at hand.

A knock at the kitchen door causes the pair of girls to turn their heads around to see who was at the door.

"Bianchi-san." Kyoko greets the older lady of the three before noticing she was holding a sleeping Chiharu in her arms.

"She was trying to hang with Tsuna and the others…" Bianchi explains to Haru once the brunette dried her hands off on a hand towel.

"I think it's about time we head on home." Haru suggest while covering the distance from the sink to Bianchi in a matter of ten steps.

"Chiharu definitely tried to be a trooper before she starts to nod off." Bianchi adds in before gently handing the toddler over to her mother.

Haru smooths Chiharu's hair out as the little girl places her right cheek against her mother's left shoulder with her left thumb in her mouth.

"I'll go get my lousy little brother from the dining room." Bianchi chimes in before leaving Haru, Chiharu, and Kyoko alone in the kitchen.

"Thanks for helping me out with the dishes. I appreciated it." Kyoko thanks her friend for her help.

Haru turns to face her orange haired woman, whom she was closest to, "No problem at all. For as much as you and Tsuna did for me I wouldn't mind cleaning a few dishes up."

"Alright then see you later then, Haru-chan." Kyoko tells her friend before watching her walking out of the kitchen with Chiharu in tow.

Meanwhile in the dining room…

Tsuna and his Vongola's guardians except for Hayato Gokudera were present at the dinner table discussing pertinent issues at hand.

"I thought for a minute that Bianchi-san was going to give it away." Takeshi claims while releasing a sigh from his mouth.

"That's exactly why I don't do crowding." Hibari proclaims from his corner of the room with his arms folded across his chest.

"Even still she couldn't help but to notice her own self. She wouldn't be a good sister if she could not recognize that."

"I should have told her about our silent agreement. It was a lack of judgment on my half." Tsuna declares to the group earning silence for a brief moment.

"Has anybody seen Gokudera-san by the way?" Tsuna speaks up again after noticing that the silver haired storm guardian was nowhere to be found.

"Achoo." Hayato sneezes before rubbing his index finger underneath his nose to soothe the sharp pain.

Not caring for the meaning behind the sneeze, Hayato adjusts his position against the wooden pole so that he was comfortable again.

A half full sake cup was still present in his right hand while his left hand fingers encircled around the top of the sake bottle.

'_I think I deserve another drink…especially with all the drama I'm going through with that stupid woman coming back!'_

He lifts the sake bottle until it was near the cup before pouring it into the cup allowing the liquid to flow into the cup until there was no more left.

Hayato shakes the bottle only to find it empty, still not believing that he could have possibly drunk the entire sake bottle within the five cups that he had. He eyed the inside of the bottle before deeming it to be true.

With a frustrated sigh, he brings the sake bottle back onto the surface of the floor as he eyes the inside of his cup.

'_Well then bottoms up…'_ he inwardly thought as he brings the cup to his lips and tosses his head back draining the liquid in its entirety.

The burning sensation that stung his throat quickly fades away as if he had pricked his finger from a sharp point of a tack.

'_And there it goes…' _He thought in disappointment before bringing the cup to his lap and returning his head to its proper position against the pole.

The alcohol seemed to do nothing but make him want more of its sudden rush of potent strength before fading away as if it was a bad memory.

"I see you still rely on that bottle for your problems, _baby brother_." A feminine voice chimes in almost immediately recognizing the voice.

"What else is there for me to do then? My nerves are on end and I'm trying to cut chain smoking since I have a toddler under my guardianship now." Hayato claims while leaning his head away from the wooden pole.

A thought passes through her head before deciding to allow it to just remain a thought due to the reaction she received from the group earlier.

"What you are doing now is worse to? Look, Haru and Chiharu are ready to go and they are waiting on you." Bianchi reminds him of his responsibilities.

"Besides that I know your drive to become Tsuna's best right hand man will allow you to get through your issues." She adds in watching her brother raise to his feet.

"Can you take care of this cup and bottle for me? I will come back tomorrow so we can talk." He claims with his back now towards his sister.

Bianchi nods her head in an up and down fashion, "Sure it's no problem. Just get those two safely home, okay? Then we will be even."

"Good night," was the last exchange among siblings as Bianchi watches her younger brother make his way towards the front of the Vongola's headquarters.

'_I need to talk with that brat about putting my dear younger Hayato through the ringer.' _Bianchi thought inwardly before making her way inside of the home.

0000

Haru patiently waits on the side of the building until the sight of the silver haired Storm guardian enter her sights staggering a little in the dark.

"Are you ready to go?" his voice rings in her ears when he asks the question.

The stench of alcohol from Hayato hits her hard, which would explain why he was staggering a little while walking in the dark when he was familiar with the layout of the headquarters' grounding.

Haru observes as he was reaching in his pocket and the sound of metal clicking against metal meant that he had the car keys in his hand.

"Um Gokudera-kun, are you _drunk_?" Haru inquires not moving from her standing position.

This causes him to freeze up, "No…I'm not drunk you stupid woman! Just get in the car so we can go home!"

Once he completes his statement, he then makes his way around to the driver seat of the car pausing to notices that Haru did not move from her current standing position.

"Are you going to get in the car or not?" he inquires with his voice rising due to his frustration of Haru not complying with him plus the drop in tolerance due to the consumption of alcohol he had that night.

"No. We are _not_ getting in that car with you especially when you are this drunk. I can't afford to take that risk with Chiharu in my care." Haru explains why she was not going to get in the car.

Hayato slumps against the car banging his head on the roof of the car at how idiotic the woman in front of him could be. _'Why did I have to accept this stupid assignment?'_

Haru never seen Hayato act this way during all the years that she knew him both in a friendly and an intimate manner. It was almost as if he had transformed into this brand new person, who drinks and lashes out in anger when being told what's right.

A sick thought passes through her head causing a nausea feeling to build up in her,_ 'Was I the cause of this transformation?' _

Hayato rests his head against the roof of the car not feeling the pain from his previous actions due to the heavy amounts of alcohol he consumed earlier.

"How about I drive since you are impaired?" Haru's voice chimes in causing him to lull his head in her direction so he could see her.

There were four blurry images of her along with a sleeping Chiharu in tow standing alongside one another, _'I really am drunk.'_

"Fine!" He simply answers while placing the keys on the center of the roof as Haru makes her way towards him.

She was slow in removing the keys from their position in case Hayato wants to suddenly change his position and snatches the keys away from her.

Haru punches the alarm button preventing the alarm from going off, which would cause shock and utter confusion among the pair.

'_So far so good…' _she thought as she unlocks the door allowing her to place Chiharu in the backseat inside of the car seat strapping her in.

Haru closes the door shut only to find Hayato still lying against the car blocking her from getting to the driver side of the door.

"Gokudera-kun?" Haru calls out to the young man, who seems unresponsive until a small jerk away from her signaled that he was still awake.

"Can you make it to the passenger side or do you need help?" The instant "help" escapes her lips Hayato pushes himself off of the car as if been shot with rejuvenation of life.

'_I can't believe I'm about to let this stupid woman drive us back home.' _ Hayato inwardly thought after opening the door and taking a seat inside of the car.

'_He's going to have a massive headache when he wakes up tomorrow morning. I should stop by the convenience sore for extra strength aspirins.' _

0000

"So it seems as if our outing was quite successful wouldn't you agree?" a voice questions their subordinate after arriving back to their camp.

"Yes boss." Another voice supplies an answer to the given question.

"I just would have never thought that they would be right here in our personal stomping grounds. I always knew I was lucky." The voice states with a small grin apparent on their face.

"But Boss, I know this little girl has some amazing power readings but do you think she is being protected by some local mafia." the subordinate suggests.

This cause the voice that spoke up first to pause in their response, "You may have a point there. We don't know how long the child and her mother have been here. Plus she doesn't have the proper experience to survive this long without the proper help."

"Besides the mother to the child poses no harm to us and the plans since she had no flames radiating from her so she can easily be eliminated."

"I already taken her into consideration as well and a child that young needs some type of influence to produce in order to prevent defiance. Do you understand?"

"It does make sense since the child does display the rawest and purest emotions that I have ever seen which in turns super charges her flames. It is rare now and days to find that kind of power in flame users."

"That is unless you were born with the rarest flames out of the six…"

"The sky flame? You think this girl may have that lying underneath all of those other flamers?"

"Are you suggesting that she may also be able to beat other Sky Flame users…even the current Vonogola's boss?"

"To take such a worthy and high position would definitely strike fear into the other mafia's family hearts."

"She would prove to be quite useful to us, don't you think?"

"If she does then she will definitely be sought after making a commodity for us so that no one in this area not even the world would dare try or betray us. The only thing is how to go about it."

"I think we should make this an inside job now since it seems as if there are too many unknown variables around those two." The subordinate suggest.

"Perfect. I know the perfect person for the job too." The boss proclaims after agreeing with their subordinate's plan.

"Glad I could help, sir!" the subordinate declares with enthusiasm.

'_I will definitely have that child in my ranks if it's the last thing I should ever do as a mafia's boss.' _


	13. Chapter 13

'_Now if I can just remember how to get back to the apartment then we will be fine.' _Haru inwardly thought to herself after stopping the car at the red colored traffic light.

She glance to her left to see the typical calm and cool headed demeanor of the silver haired self-proclaimed right hand man to Tsunayoshi Sawada in a light that she did not think was possible, which was a drunken stupor.

The feeling of guilt hit her like a wave as it would ebb away into the ocean only to have it hit her again.

While she was adjusting her rear view mirror, the sight of her two year old daughter came into view cause her heartstrings to pull at the sight of her nod off to sleep.

'_She looks so much like her father…' _she thought before deciding to concentrate on safely transporting the two people that she cared about safely home.

0000

"Tsuna...I think it's about time that I deserve an explanation about _this _situation that almost took placed at dinner this evening." Bianchi state once she enter inside of the orange haired boy's personal office.

Tsuna simply take the seat behind the wooden desk that separate Bianchi away from him creating a sense of relief since it would take her some time to get across the desk in case she thought about murder.

"Please at least take a seat..." Tsuna suggest as he maintain his sense of chivalry even when the participant was literally ready to rip his head off at any minute.

Luckily for him, Bianchi decide to cooperate at least for the time being which give him enough time to explain the situation to her.

"Before I can tell you all that I know of, you have to promise me that you will not disclose any of this sensitive information to your brother. Agree?"

"Agreed. Now tell me what you know now!"

Tsuna calmly broke down the situation to Binachi as she continue to maintain her stoic facade that mask her emotions about the _sensitive _information.

After he conclude the story, Bianchi remain with the same stoic look that she had during the whole tell all story that is before breaking out into a small smile.

"So you're not mad at the family? Or me?" Tsuna verify knowing that often time when Bianchi would smile was either two reasons: one she was genuinely happy or two when she conjured up a brilliant maleficent plan. Tsuna was starting to worry that it was the latter rather than the first assumed thought.

"Now why would I be mad Tsuna? You should know that I'm not generally such an anger or vile person. I just tend to get even when the time calls for it." Bianchi claim with her eyes closed and her arms folded across her chest.

Tsuna laugh came out in stifles while his eyebrow twitch at the honest truth that left Bianchi's lips._'You got that right...especially with your __poison__ cooking...' _

"Now I understand why you sicked my brother on poor little Haru when she came back home."

"It was because everyone was slated with a task when she came back and Hayato was the only one available at the time..."

"Or you just know that there might be a little spark left that may cause him to piece the puzzle togther and live a happily ever after."

"Don't you believe in that Bianchi-chan?"

"It's not whether or not _I _like it but rather is _he _open to it."

Tsuna merely nod his head in an up and down fashion before Bianchi speak up again, "Well I'm glad that you told me because I almost left you a nice little surprise as your dessert."

"I know I would have liked it either way." Tsuna lied through his teeth. He watched Bianchi closed the door behind her.

_'Whew that was too close to my own death for my personal comfort.' _He thought while relaxing in his chair.

0000

Hayato felt as if his body was moving on its own as he was slow to open his eyes only to see blurry images of what was in front of him.

_'Hey...how can I be driving with my eyes close?' 'That's not physical possible...' 'But I am in a car...so whose driving?'  
_

Haru notice that Hayato was blinking his eyes as if to clear his vision while staring at his hands that were in the fashion of him driving with the steering wheel.

_'So he really doesn't trust my driving...' _she thought to herself in disbelief before she signal to cross over into the lane that would take them home.

A sigh of relief escape her as the sights of their apartment enter her line of view, _'Well we did make it back home in one piece.'_

She drive to their respective apartment complex and locate a decent parking spot for Hayato's car to in. Haru glance to her left to see that Hayato was still out of it causing a dilemma; how was she going to get both her daughter and him up the steps and safely in the house.

_'Uh...how will this work out...if I take Chiharu up first then there's the liability that she may hurt herself or worse someone might take her but the same would go for if she would have taken Hayato up first.'_

Haru start to ponder a solution before realizing that Chiharu could walk herself up the steps on her own free will while she have to tousle with carrying Hayato up the staircase. _'That'll work.'_

She turn the key to the ignition toward her causing the car engine to turn completely off, removing the keys placing them in her pocket, and exiting out of the driver's seat.

Haru was now making her way to the driver's rear door opening it so that she could have access to Chiharu, who was starting to wake from her brief nap.

"Mommy?" Chiharu inquire in a drowsy tone.

"I'm here." she reassure her bundle of joy with her voice.

She press the orange button that release the seatbelt which prevent her daughter to move around freely in the backseat.

Haru move out of the way when Chiharu make her way out of the car while rubbing her eyes with one of her hands.

"Now Chiharu, mommy needs for you to be a good girl and follow her, okay?" Haru inform her daughter before they make around the trunk of the car.

'_Here comes the hard part…' _Haru silently thought as she reach out for the door handle opening it up in the process.

Haru notice that Hayato had slightly leaned back in the passenger seat which made it easier for her to grab and pull him out of his seat.

'_God why is he so heavy?' _she thought to herself before moving his feet until they were on the asphalt shifting his body so that he was now facing toward her.

Haru then reached out until her hands come into contact with his shoulders, pulled him out of his seat, and placed him on the side of the car.

She release her held breath finding Hayato to be on the heavy side as she close the passenger door back.

Haru remove the keys from her pocket and press the closed lock on the keypad locking the door in the process.

She glance to her left to see Hayato slouched against the rear passenger's door while Chiharu was wondering what was wrong with him.

"Chiharu," she call out for her daughter who acknowledge her by turning her head toward her. "Mommy need for you to walk in front of her, okay?"

Chiharu nod her head before she take off toward the staircase that would take them to the second level of their apartment complex.

Haru lift Hayato's right arm up slinging it around her small shoulder, looping her arm around his back, and forcing him to push away from the car.

"Whoa…whoa there…" Haru say out loud once she could feel the sudden shift of his weight against her body.

"Excuse me, miss, but do you need some help with your friend there?" a masculine voice inquire from the opposite side of their parked car.

Haru glance over to the direction of the voice when a man, who appear around their age emerge from the front side of the car.

The man stood about six foot two or three with long navy blue hair that was bound with an orange hairband in a low ponytail with slightly pale white skin. He had light blue eyes that reminded her of the early morning sky with circular shape glasses that seem to fit his sharp facial features. He was clad in a crispy white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow region on his arm, khaki pants, and light brown dress shoes.

"Haru mean she doesn't want to cause you any trouble due to her…_friend_'s actions." Haru mention to the young man in front of her.

The man move his head left and right before saying, "I just couldn't be idle while seeing a beautiful young woman struggling to help out her friend."

The stranger's compliment cause a small blush to appear on Haru's face after hearing the word beautiful leaves from his mouth.

The man choose that time to place himself next to the drunken Hayato before he loop Hayato's arm around his own shoulder.

"You ready?" the man pose to a still daze Haru, who could only nod her head in agreement.

Chiharu had already made her way up the set of stairs patiently waiting at the apartment door for her mother and Mr. Hayato to come up.

Instead she saw another person on the opposite side of her mother, who appeared to be helping Mr. Hayato up the stairs.

Chiharu only watch as the three people were making their way toward her when she notice something surrounding the man, who was helping her mother with Mr. Hayato.

The little toddler merely rub her eyes with her hands silently thinking that she was just seeing things due to being sleepy.

She no longer saw the weird light or whatever it was around the man.

"Thank you…" Haru pause in a manner of inquiring to the young man what his name was. "Daisuke Kusama." The man introduce himself to Haru with a small smile present on his face.

"Well thank you so very much for your help, Mr. Kusama." Haru address him in a polite manner since he was a stranger to her.

"It was all my pleasure Ms…" He copies the same action that Haru did indirectly asking for her name.

"Haru Miura," she introduce herself to Daisuke since it was only respectful for him to know her name.

"Ms. Miura then, but you can call me Daisuke…Mr. Kusama sound too formal to me." Daisuke suggest to Haru.

"Same with me, you can just call me Haru. Well then have a nice night Daisuke." Haru sent the young man off after she remove the keys from her pocket, place the key inside of the knob, and turn until a click can be heard.

Daisuke notice a young girl push the door open and hold it open for Haru and her friend to enter inside before closing and locking the door.

'_Haru Miura…' _Daisuke thought when he remove himself from in front of Haru's apartment with a small smile present on his face and his hands in his pants pockets.

0000

Kyoko put the finishing touches on cleaning the kitchen. She then decided to check in to see if her husband was still in his office with Bianchi.

'_I'm glad that Bianchi-chan made it to the dinner on time.' _She inwardly thought when she recalled that Bianchi had called in earlier to announce her planed arrival time.

'_It was definitely a surprise for not just Hayato but for Haru-chan as well. I mean Bianchi was pretty much our den mother whenever the boys had to go out and handle business.'_

'_But I didn't think that she would immediately notice what she did right off the bat since it was her first time meeting Chiharu.'_

'_I guess that's just a sister's instincts but still I wondered how Tsuna-kun went about handling Bianchi after she found out on her own.' _She thought about the possible conversation between her husband and the infamous poison cooking mistress, Bianchi.

'_I mean she wouldn't kill him since we weren't able to keep in contact with Bianchi due to the nature of her latest mission.'_

Kyoko turn the corner before she spot Bianchi's back make her way to her bedroom in the headquarters.

She was about to call out to the purple haired woman but decide to go against her better judgment since the woman would need some personal time to reflect to herself.

The door to Tsuna's office was still open before it close revealing her husband, still alive and breathing, as he release a sigh. He paused in front of the door with his eyes closed and his head slightly held downwards to the floor.

"Tsuna-kun," she speak her husband's name earning a glance in his direction when she notice that his face light up once he notice that it was his wife, Kyoko.

"Are you finished up here?" Kyoko pose to her husband after she close the distance between one another.

"Yeah, I'm just ready to turn in for some sleep." He inform her once he place his arm around her shoulder.

Kyoko nod her head before the couple make their way toward their personal bedroom to turn in for the night.


	14. Chapter 14

Morning rolled around rather fast for the silver haired mathematical genius and self-proclaimed right hand man of the Vongola's tenth boss, Tsunayoshi Sawada.

Hayato lift his torso from the surface of the bed, which cause the bed to squeak from the sudden shift in weight. He then placed both of his hands on the side of his temple with a strong throbbing headache from a hangover.

'_I guess I got drunk again…' _he inwardly concluded as he lay back down on the bed finding it to be rather comfortable.

Hayato shift his head to the right and notice that there was a small silver tray with a slice of bread, an aspirin, and a orange juice present on the side table.

'_Just like when she came back…' _he thought before reaching for the bread, placing it to his mouth, and eating it.

The aspirin pill was next as he swallow it whole before he reach out for the orange juice to wash his mouth out.

'_Is it cold?' _he thought to himself as he glance down to see that he was no longer wearing the shirt he had on from yesterday night.

'_What the hell happened last night?' _he attempt to recall the events from last night but the aspirin had yet to work its magic causing his head to throb harder.

The aroma of food cooking hit his sense of smell, which cause his empty stomach to growl at him for not properly feeding it.

Hayato rolls out of the bed not caring if he had on a shirt…he just wanted some answers to his question.

Once he exits his room, he notices that Chiharu was not present in the living room or the kitchen, which meant she was still sound asleep.

Haru was humming a tone to herself while cracking the shell of the white egg against the black pan, emptying the yolk onto the hot surface, and placing the shell back into the carton.

She could hear some movement behind her as she glance over to see a half-naked Hayato standing in the kitchen.

"Good morning." She greets him before shifting the now white eggs to prevent them from sticking to the surface of the pan.

"Good morning to you." Hayato return the greeting while still maintaining his position in the kitchen.

"If you're going to ask me what happened last night, you might as well ask it now, while Chiharu is still sleeping." Haru speaks up before turning down the heat of the stove.

'_What exactly did we do then?' _he inwardly asks himself yet it was projected verbally.

"_We_ didn't do anything. You were drunk from the dinner at Kyoko's and you tried to drive with Chiharu and I but I wouldn't let you. You were defiant but you end up giving me the keys, we left from there, and arrive back home." She explains to him leaving out the part of exactly how she got him up to the apartment.

He repeats the same question causing a red faced Haru to protest that they did not do anything last night.

"So what you're telling me is that _you_ manage to carry me up a flight of stairs all on your own? By the way, what ever happened to my shirt?" Hayato inquire as her story was adding up so far except for how she managed to get him up to the apartment.

Haru click the stove off, lift the pan, and scrap the eggs onto three plates: two large and a small one.

"A neighbor had helped me out. And as for your shirt…I took it off myself since I didn't want you to be uncomfortable in your sleep. Now does that answer your question?" She pose to him after pushing past him so she could place the pan into the sink.

'_She's still avoiding my question…' _"It must have been a man since you didn't tell me upfront when you told me to ask you what happened last night. So since you're avoiding the answer then he must have made a move on you last night."

Haru pause with the pan hovering above the sink causing her to think, _'How did he figure that out?' _

"What's his name?" Hayato pose this time with a stern tone.

"Daisuke, Kursama." She answer and place the pan into the sink before running cold water over the hot surface causing steam.

A knock at their apartment door catch the pair's attention in the kitchen earning an exchange of looks between the two adults.

Hayato decide to make his way over to the front door and peek through the door hole to see a man around his age with long navy blue hair, circular glasses, and light blue eyes.

"Is this the guy?" Hayato pose to Haru, who was still in the kitchen before hearing his muffled voice behind the door, "Haru, its me…Daisuke."

'_Damn.' _Haru inwardly curse to herself when she notice that Hayato did not wait for her conformation.

Hayato unlock the door before coming face to face with the man that helped Haru out with him last night.

He could tell Daisuke was thoroughly surprised as he was probably expecting to see a hot young brunette in skimpy sleeping clothes standing in front of him rather then a half-naked silvered haired man.

"Oh uhm…good morning, does Haru Miura live here?" Daisuke pose to the silvered haired man that was currently standing in front of him.

Hayato merely observe the man in front of him before summing him up to be a wuss, "And who are you to be asking?"

"Daisuke Kurama, I helped her out with you last night. I was just stopping by to make sure that she was safely in." Daisuke introduce and explain himself to the man in front of him.

'_Bullshit! You thought you were going to take her out to eat or something.' _He thought to himself since he pulled the same exact move from when he was dating Haru.

"Well she doesn't live here. This is _my_ apartment!" Hayato declare to the navy haired man, named Daisuke.

"Hayato!" Haru shout his name after hearing the two's conversation with one another.

"What? I didn't do anything wrong. He was the one who knocked on the door this morning." Hayato state before turning his head to see that she was standing there.

"I apologize for his behavior this morning. Thank you for checking up on me. I'm doing fine." Haru declare causing Daisuke to grow a small smile on his face.

"Good." Daisuke say before taking his leave from the front door and the pair as he make his way down a flight of stairs.

Haru shut the door while looking up at Hayato, "Was that really necessary, Hayato?"

"Not unless you want that creep to keep showing his face around here then yeah it was necessary." He claims with no look of regret present on his face.

"You really need to grow up Hayato!" Haru fire back before walking back in the direction of the kitchen but then veers off path making her way to the other bedroom.

Hayato just took that as a sign to head back into the bedroom to find an appropriate shirt to wear around Chiharu.

0000

Kyoko wake to find that her husband was already awake as the sound of running water cause her to wake up.

She stretches both of her arms up over her head before crashing back down on to the mattress to enjoy the feel of her bed.

Kyoko release a sigh before rolling out of the bed until her feet touch the surface of the floor while pushing the cover away from the top of the bed.

She glances to her left to see the clock with red numbers present to see what time it was. _'Well I could still make breakfast.'_

The sound of the creaky showerhead knob can be heard turning off the rushing water meaning that Tsuna had just finished taking his morning shower.

'_It's time to get up then…'_ Kyoko thought to herself before pushing herself away from the bed and rising to her full height.

0000

The sound of a phone ringing can be heard throughout the barracks before some one pick up and answer the phone with, "Let me speak to the boss."

"Password." The receiver speak into the phone not trusting the individual who made such a rather bold claim to talk to the boss.

"The fountain of youth blooms in the warmest time after a thousand years has passed." The caller answers in a calm manner.

"Is the line secured?" the receiver pose to the caller who respond with a "Yes."

"Boss, there is someone on line two for you!" The individual shouts to an open door before clicking the line over to line two.

"Yeah, what is it?" the person who was giving the title of Boss ask to the caller on the other end.

"The first part of the plan has been completed." The caller informs the Boss about the progression of the plan.

"Excellent. I knew I chose the right person for the job then." The Boss proclaim after receiving excellent news about the succession of the plan.

"I will need a couple of days to assess whether or not the plan can go on with your timeline or if we need to adjust the schedule." The caller informs the Boss.

"That's fine as long as you call with good news of the plan then I really don't care how you get the job done." The Boss responds back before hanging the phone up.

"It seem as if we're one step closer to obtaining the precious gift that we want, eh Boss." The subordinate, who initially answer the phone, claim after entering the office space, "You can say that again."

0000

Hayato, Haru, and a now woke Chiharu were eating the breakfast that Haru had cooked for them.

There was a tense silence between Hayato and Haru that went unnoticed by Chiharu, who seem to be on the verge of causing a conversation.

"Mr. Hayato," Chiharu call out to Hayato when she pauses in the middle of eating one of her pancake.

"Yes, Chiharu, what is it?" Hayato pose to the toddler on the other end of the wooden table.

"Thank you for park." Chiharu thank Hayato with a wide smile and her eyes closed as her fork was still midway in the air.

Hayato could feel joy tug on his heartstrings after seeing the young girl's face. "It's no problem. We can go again whenever you like."

Chiharu nod her head accepting and showing that she understood the deal between the two when she notice Mr. Hayato's pinkie now in front of her face.

Haru simply serve as the spectator to the pair interaction with one another when a thought finally hit her head.

"We need some more clothes." Haru remind herself not realizing that she had said her thought out loud.

"Huh?" Hayato pose to Haru after swallowing the last bit of cooked eggs that were present on his plate.

"I just realized that we need some more clothes." Haru speak up from her whispered tone.

"I thought that that was why you were going to go to your parents' house today." Hayato remind Haru of what their initial plan was for today.

Haru simply stared at the young man that was in front of her with her hand tightly grasped around her fork.

"_My _clothes are over there not Chiharu's." Haru states before deciding to return her focus back on to the plate in front of her.

Hayato's face read with an "Oh okay" look as he place his fork on his empty plate before he lean back until he felt the body of the chair against his back.

Once Haru finishes up with her plate, she reaches and grabs Chiharu's plate leaving Hayato's plate in front of him.

"Alright then, let's get you cleaned up so you can go see grandma and grandpa." She tells Chiharu after placing the plates in the sink and makes her way back to pick Chiharu up.

Hayato simply remain seated for a few more minutes before deciding to do the same thing and get ready for their day out.

'_I hope she doesn't make this a long day.' _He thought to himself before his mind wander back to the man who visited them this morning.

'_It's something about that guy that doesn't sit right with me.' _


	15. Chapter 15

Tsuna emerges from his personal bathroom refreshed and energized for today's task, which would involved paperwork and phone calls from families, who had aligned themselves under the Vongola's name.

Although it was a stressful task, Tsuna knew all too well what would have come with him accepting his role as the Decimo of the Vongola family.

'_I'm glad to have such people to call as good friends.' _He thought to himself as he begins to dress himself in the attire that his lovely wife laid out for him.

'_I have to check up on Haru and Hayato first then make some check-in calls for the others.' _Tsuna mentally outlines what the first part of his day was going to be.

A sudden sense of doubt hits him when he thought about the situation that he had put the two former lovers' in. _'I still don't like it but he was the only one I had left and who I could trust for this situation.'_

The aroma of food catches his nose as Kyoko faithfully wakes up early in the morning every single day and cooks breakfast for those who resides in the headquarters.

He knew his wife felt as it was her duty to take care of those around her, which was one of the reasons why he fell in love with her.

A smile appears on Tsuna's face when he realizes that all the people who he cares about deeply are still around him to this very day. _'I'm one lucky man.'_

0000

Hayato makes his way to the living room once he was fully dress in a red button down collared shirt with dark black denim and red and white tennis shoes.

He notices that Haru and Chiharu were not in the living room, which meant that they were still getting dressed.

He turns his attention to the front door of the apartment as his mind reels back to the man, who had the nerve to knock on the door and check up on Haru.

'_He thought that I had left earlier in the morning once I regained my senses.' _He mentally concludes about Kursama's intentions for his drop-by this morning.

Hayato merely twirls the keys around the index of his finger due to boredom when he inwardly asks himself, _'What is taking so long?' _

Just when that thought pass through his head, the bedroom door opens up to reveal Haru carrying Chiharu in her right arm.

'_It's about damn time.' _He wanted to say instead it came out more along the line of, "Are you ready to go?"

Haru nod her head up and down to show that they were ready to leave for their day out on the town.

Hayato then walks in front of her in order to open the door for her since she had Chiharu in her arms and it would be difficult for her to open the door.

As he held the door open, he noticed what Haru was wearing when she passed by him. She wore a grey tank top with alternating yellow and grey striped cardigan with a mid-knee blue skirt and yellow sailor flats with white strings tied in a bow. Her hair was brushed up in a ponytail with two bangs framing her face.

'_She's looks cute today.' _He inwardly thought not realizing that he was now currently staring at the brunette haired woman in front of him.

Haru realizes that Hayato had yet to lock the door and mentions "You should lock the door behind you."

Hayato snaps from his thoughts as he quickly turns around to lock the door before she notices that he was looking at her.

'_That was a close one…' _He thought as he silently reminds himself he should be a little more careful the next time.

"Are you ready to go see your grandma and grandpa?" Haru poses to Chiharu as they make their way down the flight of stairs which leads to the parking lot.

Chiharu claps her hands in enthusiasm and cheers for their next destination, which cause a smile to appear on Haru's face.

Hayato just merely serves as a silent observer of not just Chiharu's behavior but Haru, who seems slightly uncomfortable that he was going along with her to her parents' home.

'_And_ _once again I threw the dice on my own faith.' _He thought to himself as he follows behind the two ladies that he has been assign to protect.

0000

Tsuna decides to make a quick stop by his office in order to sort through a couple of items before he picks up a plate from the dining hall.

He notices Bianchi standing off to the left of his door with her back against the wall and her arms folded across their chest.

"Good mornings" were exchange between the two as the figure merely watches as Tsuna unlocks the door to his office and pushes it open.

Bianchi quickly thanks Tsuna for being a gentleman and flicks on the lights to his office in order for them to be able to clearly see.

"Before we start there is someone else who I need to call in for this meeting." Tsuna informs Bianchi that she would not be the only individual in the meeting this morning.

She nods her head and offers a, "that is fine," to the brunette haired Decimo as he reaches out for his office phone.

As soon as he picked up the phone he returned it to the receiver and turned his attention to the older woman in front of him.

"How was Italy?" Tsuna inquires about Bianchi's latest vacation, which was a personal request for someone who hardly takes a break.

Bianchi leans her back into the chair all while she releases a breath. "It was definitely worth it. I didn't how much Italy was a part of my heart after spending so much time away from that place."

Tsuna nods his head up and down before he chimes in, "It's always good to visit your birthplace every now and then. Speaking of which, I should take my own advice and go visit my own parents."

"When you do please tell momma and Itestu hello and that I will be there for a dinner soon/" Bianchi inquires to Tsuna, who merely cracks a smile at the woman's request.

"I most definitely will." Tsuna assures Bianchi that her message would be relayed over to his parents the next time he would visit.

The door opens to reveal Hibari Kyoya, who seems rather content with remaining at his current position, and closes the door behind him.

"The death threats are not handwritten but instead they use newspaper and magazine clippings. This could mean that whoever sent them they did not want to leave their mark on the paper."

"Death threats," Bianchi repeats as she glances in the direction of Hibari and then to Tsuna with a concern expression present on her face.

'_So poor Haru has been receiving death threats while she was in America?' _ She inwardly thought when she can hear Tsuna's voice chime in.

"It would make sense since everyone has a unique way of writing their letters and if they did jots something down we could use that as a clue."

"The paper that they use for the letters is typical printer paper however the position of how the letters are use is from right to left."

"Westerners are accustomed to reading from left to right while here it is traditionally written in the format called tategaki, which is a copy of the traditional Chinese system."

"So it's possible that whoever it is has a Japanese background…"

"Along with some influence over in America, which could mean their background could be a Japanese American." Hibari concludes his report.

Bianchi continues to absorb all the information that was just exchange between the two when a thought finally hits her.

'_No wonder Tsuna said that it was best for my brother to be with her since he would go through great lengths to protect her.' _She inwardly concludes to herself when she realizes Hibari had already left.

"At least we're making some progress in trying to determine who it is that had sent her those letters." Tsuna comments as he return his attention back to Bianchi.

"As you can see, there is a lot more going on behind the scene that was why I called you in this morning so you can hear it for yourself." Tsuna explains the reason as to why he had called her in the morning.

Bianchi copies Tsuna's action from earlier and nods her head before she proclaims "Is there any way that I can help in the investigation?"

Tsuna removes himself from behind his desk and stands on the opposite side of Bianchi, "Just make sure Gokudera-kun keeps his mind focus."

"I can do that." She confirms her participation in her portion of the mission.

"I knew you would agree now if you don't mind my stomach has been growling at me ever since I woke up this morning." Tsuna comments, which cause Bianchi to remove herself from the chair she sat in.

A small smile appears on her face before she adds in, "Mines has been too."

The duo exit from Tsuna's office and walks in the direction of the dining room where the aroma of Kyoko's cooking fills the room.

0000

The drive over to the Miura's residence was one that could have been in silence if it was not for Hayato, who switches the radio on once they settle themselves in the car.

However, there was still a sense of tension in the air between the two as Haru had her chin on top of her palm and leans her forehead forward until it was press against the window while Hayato had a disdain expression present on his face.

Yet the presence of the two-year old child in the back yielded any attempts for the former lovers to openly vent their problems, which would strum along very provocative words that a child should not hear at any age.

It was a slightly maddening process but luckily for the two, the road shift into a familiar street, which housed all of the homes Haru knew as her childhood neighborhood.

The familiar sights cause her to steer her thoughts away from her jealous silver haired driver to the precious memories that took place on these streets.

A smile stretches across her face as she mentally regales about the joys of being a teenage with no responsibilities well that is everything but the typical routine chores of cleaning the dishes and making up your bed.

She remembers how they would have specialty days at home where her mother would choose Tuesdays as Taco Day, Wednesdays as Leftovers Day, Fridays as Fish Fry Day, Saturdays as Spaghetti Day, and Sundays as Seafood Day.

It was what gave birth to what others would call her weirdness but she merely thought of it as people not being able to openly accept someone who was different from them.

So Haru would busy herself with sewing various fantasies, which she took extreme pride in since she was able to bring her creative and boundless imagination to reality.

That was the reason why she was drawn to Kyoko because of her loving carefree attitude and point of view and even closer to Tsuna since he readily accepts everyone's differences but was able to mesh them together in order to work for everyone.

Haru released a sigh of relief when she spotted her birth home out of the dozen other residences that were on her block which caused her to have the thought of _'Home Sweet Home' _

Hayato parks behind Mrs. Miura car, which currently occupied one of the two spaces in the garage and since he knew all too well how Mr. Miura would act if he parked in his personal spot.

A small smile grows across his face as he reflects back on how he came to learn that valuable lesson when he first was able to drive a car.

He was so nervous on having the car for one of their dates to the drive-in theater that he did not realize that he had parked in Mr. Miura's spot in the garage. Mr. Miura had bursted inside of his home with guns ablaze with accusations of his wife holding extra-marital visitors while he was working his butt off for his family. That is until his eyes fell on to a young teenage boy with silver hair, who was known as Hayato Gokudera. He quickly issued an apology to Hayato before his lovely wife and daughter emerge from the kitchen with a disappointed expression on their face.

"Go and enjoy the movie you two." Mrs. Miura had shouted to the couple as they made their way toward the front door and exit.

"Now what was all these accusation about me having extra-marital visitors in our home?" Mrs. Miura questioned her husband with her arms across her chest as the tip of her right foot begin to repeatedly tapped against the wooden surface of their hallway.

Mr. Miura merely stifled a chuckle with his right hand scratched the back of his head before he apologized to his wife and blamed it on the long hours he worked to support the family.

He had to suppress a bout of laughter from the memory as he turns the ignition of the car off, unlocks the doors, and exit from the driver's side of the vehicle.

On the other hand, Haru makes her way to the rear passenger side in order to free a quiet Chiharu from the bonds of her car seat.

Haru spots her mother when she appears on the front step and waves her right hand in their direction with the biggest smile present on her face.

She releases a breath as she then reaches for the diaper bag that was directly behind her seat and on the car's floor.

'_Alright then…here we go.' _Haru mentally prepares herself for the worse since she knew how much her mother had a soft spot for Hayato.

"Long time no see Mrs. Miura!" Hayato greets the older woman once he turns away from the car after he turns on the car's alarm.

Mrs. Miura squints her eyes a little before she realizes who it was that greeted when she returns with, "Is that you Hayato Gokudera?"

Haru merely rolls her eyes at how her mother's reaction was after she spots the silver haired male after their two year tenure in America.

"The one and only!"


	16. Chapter 16

"The meal was delicious Kyoko!" Lambo shouts as he leans back on to his right hand while the other one was rubbing circles around his stomach as a sign that he was full.

I-Pin compliments Kyoko's cooking, bows her head out of respect before she excuses herself to return back to her daily morning training.

"Thanks for the meal." Chrome formally compliments as Kyoko was blushing from all of the praises she would receive whenever she cooks meals for the family.

"Good as always, Kyoko." Bianchi says while she cleans up the minor mess she made when she ate her food.

She receives a smile from Kyoko as she turns to collect the rest of the dirty plates that were currently covering the dining hall table.

"I'll help you clean up." Bianchi offers as she stands up and maneuvers around a now sleeping Lambo to gather up the rest of the plates.

Kyoko knew Bianchi wanted to help out of good nature since cooking and feeding the renters in the Vongola headquarters three meals a day, excluding snacks which are store bought, was definitely a strenuous task for one individual.

Yet she never verbally complained since she felt it was one of her responsibilities to take on or be faced with numerous restaurant bills when the kitchen was perfectly operational.

"Kyoko," Takeshi calls to the orange haired girl, who pauses in the middle of balancing dishes in one of her hands while the other rest on a half raised plate. "Yes, what is it?"

"How about I make dinner tonight? You look like you need a break." He offers after he gathers up his dirty dishes.

Bianchi perked up after she heard what Takeshi had offered to cook in Kyoko's stead for tonight. "Ah that means we get to have some premium quality sushi. That would be nice."

The same smile Bianchi had received from earlier was present when she heard Takeshi's offer and responsed with, "That would be nice but what about the restaurant?"

"Luckily for me the shop is closed for today so it's nothing to worry yourself about it." He mentions so Kyoko would not worry too much about his other obligations.

"If that's the case then my kitchen is your kitchen." She comments as she continues to collect the rest of the dishes.

Takeshi returns the nice gesture by flashing a similar smile followed by a nod of his head.

0000

Mrs. Miura continues to squints her eyes until Hayato came into her line of vision and sure enough it was the one and only...Gokudera, Hayato.

A wide smile appears on her face while she opens her arms wide as a gesture for him to come toward her for a hug, which he does once he reaches her.

Haru merely observes the two interactions with one another as she adjusts Chiharu on her hip so she could close the door behind her. _'They're already acting like old chums. This might take longer then usual.'_

"My you have gotten taller…" Mrs. Miura comments as the two breaks away from each other allowing her to take in Hayato from head to toe. "…you're still as handsome from the last time that I saw you."

A smile extends across Hayato's face when he hears the compliment from the older female Miura. _'At least someone hasn't changed since they left for America.'_

"Did you do something to your hair?" he inquires which cause the older woman to blush and giggle and the question.

"So you noticed huh? I wanted to try a new hair color to make me look younger." She admits after she finishes giggling to herself.

"It looks lovely on you Mrs. Miura beside it makes you look even younger." Hayato adds in as it earned him an "Oh Hayato…you're too much" from the woman.

Haru along with Chiharu makes their way up the small walkway that leads to where Hayato and her mother were currently chatting with one another.

"Well hello to you too mom." She greets her mother once she was standing to Hayato's direct left.

Her mother slowly brings her gaze to her right and notices her daughter and her adorable granddaughter propped up against her left hip.

"Hey there Chiharu," she says as she quickly reaches out, removes Chiharu from Haru's grasp and places her on her hip.

Haru rolls her eyes at her mother's action before she repeats her statement again as Hayato sneakers at Mrs. Miura's reaction, "Hey to you too Mom."

Mrs. Miura breaks her concentration from bouncing Chiharu up and down in her arm and stares at Haru with the same smile.

"Hey there Haru…" she greets her daughter before she directs them, "Come on inside the house you two,"

0000

"Boss…you're guest has arrived," a subordinate announces once he approaches the door which had "Boss" engraved in a golden plate.

"Bring them in." a voice answers from behind the door as the subordinate pushes the door wide enough for the guest and themselves to easely pass through.

"Just the person who I needed to see about this mission." The voice states once they were able to confirm the identity of the person in front of them.

"I called you in because unfortunately we have been put on a timeline for the acquirement of the power source." The voice chimes in.

The person in front of the Boss raises an eyebrow at the statement when they asks, "Who else has discovered about your precious treasure?"

The Boss placed their head in the palm of their hands, "My scouts have recently reported movement by the Vongola family. So that means we will have to accelerate the plans since I want to keep the favor within our odds."

"I understand."

0000

Once they crossed the threshold of the Miura's residence, Hayato asks a question "Is Mr. Miura in?"

Mrs. Miura shakes her head left and right a signal for no before she explains, "He called a few minutes ago and told me his meeting went over a little but he will make it back home at his regular time."

"You know you should bring my granddaughter around more often. We want to spend some time with her too." Mrs. Miura mentions before her daughter walks pass her causing her to stop in her stride.

"Mom…we just got settled in to an apartment. I was going to bring her by once we were done over there." Haru explains in a slightly annoyed tone.

Hayato maneuvers through the living room furniture before he settles in on one of the sofa since the love chairs were reserved for Mr. Miura and his closest friends.

He merely observes the exchange between mother and daughter before Haru makes her way up the stairs to her personal bedroom while her mother along with Chiharu takes a seat on the opposite ends of the couch.

"So has Chiharu been adjusting to Tokyo?" Mrs. Miura inquires as her eyes lingered on Chiharu, as she tries to climb up one of the love chairs.

Hayato mimics the same action as the older Miura as he answers her question with, "She adjusted faster than I did when I was little."

"That's right. I do remember you telling me that when you were young you left Italy and came here to Japan. How did you feel about leaving your home?" Mrs. Miura recalls as she snaps her middle finger and thumb together.

'_I wouldn't say it was home but rather a place where I can lay my head down.' _He inwardly correct her statement.

"I never really cared too much about the move and quietly rebelled against it but I'm kind of glad that I was brought over here or I wouldn't have been able to meet amazing friends who I consider as my family." He admits to the woman in a low tone. '_And my first experience of love,_'

"So how was America?" He asks as he redirects the topic of their conversation.

"Oh it was amazing. It was like a whole new world over there! I was scared at first since my husband didn't know whether or not he wanted to go. So I end up convincing him that we were getting older and that we should travel more like we had planned. Besides Haru was grown and could take good care of herself."

"So it was supposed to be just you and Mr. Miura?"

Mrs. Miura nods her head up and down when cuts her glane over to Chiharu, who was sitting in the love chair, "To be honest, we were surprised when we saw her waiting on us at the airport in tears."

'_She waited on them at the airport?' _Mrs. Miura noted Hayato's facial expression, which caused her to ask, "She didn't tell you that we were going to America, did she?"

Hayato shakes his head a "no" before a frown appears on her face once she heard what Hayato had told her. "All I woke up to was a handwritten letter apologizing to me for leaving me behind that morning."

'_How could Haru do that to poor Hayato especially after all those years they had spent with one another?'_

Mrs. Miura extends one of her arms out till her hand touches his forearm, "I'm sorry about how my daughter broke the news to you. My husband and I had assumed that you had allowed her to come along with us. So that was the reason why she was crying at the airport then..."

'_She was crying when she had left? Still why didn't she tell me about it rather than just up and leave like that?'_

"No, she didn't mention anything to me at all but that's in the past though. I'm just glad that you were able to safely return back to Japan." Hayato confesses to the woman, who breaks out in to another smile.

'_I'm just glad that she was able to return to you as well. I just hope it works out in your favor too.' _She silently thought behind her smile.

0000

Haru stands in front of her modest walk-in closet and surveys the clothes that were present inside. _'Let's see what it is that I need.'_

As she starts to make her way from one end of the closet, she could not help but to worry about the potential subject of the conversation between her mother and Hayato.

Haru could not shake her thoughts about that, _'I hope my mom abide by the rules I told her before we came back to America.'_

She remembers how she sat her parents down in the three bedroom apartment that the university lent to her father for his tenure in America.

"So what is this meeting about Haru dear?" her mother inquires once she takes a seat next to her husband on the couch.

"I wanted to talk to you two about when we return back to Japan." Haru mentions to her parents in a serious tone.

Her father raises an eyebrow at his daughter's comment when he could hear his wife ask her, "Is there something bothering you?"

"When we get back home I don't want you to mention anything about what happened over her to Gokuerda, Hayato."

"I don't want him to know about what I did while I was in America. You have to promise me that you will try at all cost to avoid that conversation with him."

Mr. and Mrs. Miura exchange glances at one another once they heard the name that they deemed to be forbidden until their daughter was ready to talk to them about him.

"If you feel so strongly about it then we won't mention anything to the young man. Is there anything else that you need to tell us?"

"Thank you for taking me on this trip with you all. I know this was supposed to be the start of the travels you two dreamed of having but put on hold to properly raise me. So I just wanted to thank you mom and dad from the bottom of my heart." Haru professes to her parents as she leans forward with her head downward.

"It's fine Haru. It was actually nice to finally take a family vacation since Kami knows when." Her mother comforts her daughter with a knowing nod of her head.

Haru held her head down to mask the tears that were threatening to fall down her face at the subject of their conversation.

'_Good...I made it through the talk with crying my heart out.' _she thought to herself.

A shake of her head causes her to emerge from her memory as she returns to the task that she had to complete.

'_Now where is that duffle bag?' _she thought to herself.


	17. Chapter 17

"The meal was delicious Kyoko!" Lambo shouts as he leans back on to his right hand while the other one was rubbing circles around his stomach as a sign that he was full.

I-Pin compliments Kyoko's cooking, bows her head out of respect before she excuses herself to return back to her daily morning training.

"Thanks for the meal." Chrome formally compliments as Kyoko was blushing from all of the praises she would receive whenever she cooks meals for the family.

"Good as always, Kyoko." Bianchi says while she cleans up the minor mess she made when she ate her food.

She receives a smile from Kyoko as she turns to collect the rest of the dirty plates that were currently covering the dining hall table.

"I'll help you clean up." Bianchi offers as she stands up and maneuvers around a now sleeping Lambo to gather up the rest of the plates.

Kyoko knew Bianchi wanted to help out of good nature since cooking and feeding the renters in the Vongola headquarters three meals a day, excluding snacks which are store bought, was definitely a strenuous task for one individual.

Yet she never verbally complained since she felt it was one of her responsibilities to take on or be faced with numerous restaurant bills when the kitchen was perfectly operational.

"Kyoko," Takeshi calls to the orange haired girl, who pauses in the middle of balancing dishes in one of her hands while the other rest on a half raised plate. "Yes, what is it?"

"How about I make dinner tonight? You look like you need a break." He offers after he gathers up his dirty dishes.

Bianchi perked up after she heard what Takeshi had offered to cook in Kyoko's stead for tonight. "Ah that means we get to have some premium quality sushi. That would be nice."

The same smile Bianchi had received from earlier was present when she heard Takeshi's offer and responsed with, "That would be nice but what about the restaurant?"

"Luckily for me the shop is closed for today so it's nothing to worry yourself about it." He mentions so Kyoko would not worry too much about his other obligations.

"If that's the case then my kitchen is your kitchen." She comments as she continues to collect the rest of the dishes.

Takeshi returns the nice gesture by flashing a similar smile followed by a nod of his head.

0000

Mrs. Miura continues to squints her eyes until Hayato came into her line of vision and sure enough it was the one and only...Gokudera, Hayato.

A wide smile appears on her face while she opens her arms wide as a gesture for him to come toward her for a hug, which he does once he reaches her.

Haru merely observes the two interactions with one another as she adjusts Chiharu on her hip so she could close the door behind her. _'They're already acting like old chums. This might take longer then usual.'_

"My you have gotten taller…" Mrs. Miura comments as the two breaks away from each other allowing her to take in Hayato from head to toe. "…you're still as handsome from the last time that I saw you."

A smile extends across Hayato's face when he hears the compliment from the older female Miura. _'At least someone hasn't changed since they left for America.'_

"Did you do something to your hair?" he inquires which cause the older woman to blush and giggle and the question.

"So you noticed huh? I wanted to try a new hair color to make me look younger." She admits after she finishes giggling to herself.

"It looks lovely on you Mrs. Miura beside it makes you look even younger." Hayato adds in as it earned him an "Oh Hayato…you're too much" from the woman.

Haru along with Chiharu makes their way up the small walkway that leads to where Hayato and her mother were currently chatting with one another.

"Well hello to you too mom." She greets her mother once she was standing to Hayato's direct left.

Her mother slowly brings her gaze to her right and notices her daughter and her adorable granddaughter propped up against her left hip.

"Hey there Chiharu," she says as she quickly reaches out, removes Chiharu from Haru's grasp and places her on her hip.

Haru rolls her eyes at her mother's action before she repeats her statement again as Hayato sneakers at Mrs. Miura's reaction, "Hey to you too Mom."

Mrs. Miura breaks her concentration from bouncing Chiharu up and down in her arm and stares at Haru with the same smile.

"Hey there Haru…" she greets her daughter before she directs them, "Come on inside the house you two,"

0000

"Boss…you're guest has arrived," a subordinate announces once he approaches the door which had "Boss" engraved in a golden plate.

"Bring them in." a voice answers from behind the door as the subordinate pushes the door wide enough for the guest and themselves to easely pass through.

"Just the person who I needed to see about this mission." The voice states once they were able to confirm the identity of the person in front of them.

"I called you in because unfortunately we have been put on a timeline for the acquirement of the power source." The voice chimes in.

The person in front of the Boss raises an eyebrow at the statement when they asks, "Who else has discovered about your precious treasure?"

The Boss placed their head in the palm of their hands, "My scouts have recently reported movement by the Vongola family. So that means we will have to accelerate the plans since I want to keep the favor within our odds."

"I understand."

0000

Once they crossed the threshold of the Miura's residence, Hayato asks a question "Is Mr. Miura in?"

Mrs. Miura shakes her head left and right a signal for no before she explains, "He called a few minutes ago and told me his meeting went over a little but he will make it back home at his regular time."

"You know you should bring my granddaughter around more often. We want to spend some time with her too." Mrs. Miura mentions before her daughter walks pass her causing her to stop in her stride.

"Mom…we just got settled in to an apartment. I was going to bring her by once we were done over there." Haru explains in a slightly annoyed tone.

Hayato maneuvers through the living room furniture before he settles in on one of the sofa since the love chairs were reserved for Mr. Miura and his closest friends.

He merely observes the exchange between mother and daughter before Haru makes her way up the stairs to her personal bedroom while her mother along with Chiharu takes a seat on the opposite ends of the couch.

"So has Chiharu been adjusting to Tokyo?" Mrs. Miura inquires as her eyes lingered on Chiharu, as she tries to climb up one of the love chairs.

Hayato mimics the same action as the older Miura as he answers her question with, "She adjusted faster than I did when I was little."

"That's right. I do remember you telling me that when you were young you left Italy and came here to Japan. How did you feel about leaving your home?" Mrs. Miura recalls as she snaps her middle finger and thumb together.

'_I wouldn't say it was home but rather a place where I can lay my head down.' _He inwardly correct her statement.

"I never really cared too much about the move and quietly rebelled against it but I'm kind of glad that I was brought over here or I wouldn't have been able to meet amazing friends who I consider as my family." He admits to the woman in a low tone. '_And my first experience of love,_'

"So how was America?" He asks as he redirects the topic of their conversation.

"Oh it was amazing. It was like a whole new world over there! I was scared at first since my husband didn't know whether or not he wanted to go. So I end up convincing him that we were getting older and that we should travel more like we had planned. Besides Haru was grown and could take good care of herself."

"So it was supposed to be just you and Mr. Miura?"

Mrs. Miura nods her head up and down when cuts her glane over to Chiharu, who was sitting in the love chair, "To be honest, we were surprised when we saw her waiting on us at the airport in tears."

'_She waited on them at the airport?' _Mrs. Miura noted Hayato's facial expression, which caused her to ask, "She didn't tell you that we were going to America, did she?"

Hayato shakes his head a "no" before a frown appears on her face once she heard what Hayato had told her. "All I woke up to was a handwritten letter apologizing to me for leaving me behind that morning."

'_How could Haru do that to poor Hayato especially after all those years they had spent with one another?'_

Mrs. Miura extends one of her arms out till her hand touches his forearm, "I'm sorry about how my daughter broke the news to you. My husband and I had assumed that you had allowed her to come along with us. So that was the reason why she was crying at the airport then..."

'_She was crying when she had left? Still why didn't she tell me about it rather than just up and leave like that?'_

"No, she didn't mention anything to me at all but that's in the past though. I'm just glad that you were able to safely return back to Japan." Hayato confesses to the woman, who breaks out in to another smile.

'_I'm just glad that she was able to return to you as well. I just hope it works out in your favor too.' _She silently thought behind her smile.

0000

Haru stands in front of her modest walk-in closet and surveys the clothes that were present inside. _'Let's see what it is that I need.'_

As she starts to make her way from one end of the closet, she could not help but to worry about the potential subject of the conversation between her mother and Hayato.

Haru could not shake her thoughts about that, _'I hope my mom abide by the rules I told her before we came back to America.'_

She remembers how she sat her parents down in the three bedroom apartment that the university lent to her father for his tenure in America.

"So what is this meeting about Haru dear?" her mother inquires once she takes a seat next to her husband on the couch.

"I wanted to talk to you two about when we return back to Japan." Haru mentions to her parents in a serious tone.

Her father raises an eyebrow at his daughter's comment when he could hear his wife ask her, "Is there something bothering you?"

"When we get back home I don't want you to mention anything about what happened over her to Gokuerda, Hayato."

"I don't want him to know about what I did while I was in America. You have to promise me that you will try at all cost to avoid that conversation with him."

Mr. and Mrs. Miura exchange glances at one another once they heard the name that they deemed to be forbidden until their daughter was ready to talk to them about him.

"If you feel so strongly about it then we won't mention anything to the young man. Is there anything else that you need to tell us?"

"Thank you for taking me on this trip with you all. I know this was supposed to be the start of the travels you two dreamed of having but put on hold to properly raise me. So I just wanted to thank you mom and dad from the bottom of my heart." Haru professes to her parents as she leans forward with her head downward.

"It's fine Haru. It was actually nice to finally take a family vacation since Kami knows when." Her mother comforts her daughter with a knowing nod of her head.

Haru held her head down to mask the tears that were threatening to fall down her face at the subject of their conversation.

'_Good...I made it through the talk with crying my heart out.' _she thought to herself.

A shake of her head causes her to emerge from her memory as she returns to the task that she had to complete.

'_Now where is that duffle bag?' _she thought to herself.


	18. Chapter 18

'_It seems as if Takeshi has come back from grocery shopping.' _Kyoko inwardly notes when she notices the familiar dark black car that the Vongola family would drive, pulls up through the driveway.

"We make an excellent team." Bianchi notes as she dries her wet hands off with a dry washcloth and admires their handiwork.

Kyoko steps back and copies Bianchi's action, "You're right." "We do make an excellent team."

"Thanks for helping me out with the dishes…" Kyoko thanks the older woman off to her right, "…since others don't often volunteer their services to help with any of the chores."

Bianchi chuckles a little to herself at Kyoko's comment, "That's what happens when 1) we have too many males in the family and 2) everyone's so busy with missions."

Kyoko nods her head in agreement as they watches Takeshi emerges from the car and makes his way around to the trunk of the car.

She releases a held sigh and replies with, "Even still it gives me something to do. Besides I think I would go insane in a quiet setting than in this madhouse."

Bianchi cuts her glance over to the orange haired woman to see she was now in a daze, "Hey Kyoko-chan,"

"Yes, what is it?" she politely inquires as to the reason why Bianchi breaks her away from her inner thoughts.

"I know I shouldn't ask you this but…" Bianchi pauses in the middle of her sentence as if to think of the appropriate manner to ask her question, "when are you and Tsuna-kun, you know going to have little ones running around?"

Bianchi silently observes Kyoko's next facial expression for the first reaction was generally how the person truly feels about the situation.

"Trust me…I asked him that same question and he would always respond with the same answer." Kyoko mentions as her wide smile starts to fade.

"My first responsibility is to be able to take care of my family at every beck and call. How about we wait a little later to have kids?" she repeats verbatim what Tsuna would say whenever she would bring up children as a topic.

Bianchi did not know which side to take since she agreed with the both of them and their ideals. She of all people knew what it was like to be raised under the influence of the mafia and how much of liability children are in that cruel world. Friendships were hard to find and even painful to maintain. Then on the other hand, you want to be able to pass on your built legacy to your children so that they can do the same for the children's children and their children's children's children.

So instead of voicing her real opinion on the situation, Bianchi turns her attention in the direction Kyoko's looking at and discloses with, "I'm sure you two will come to some type of agreement if you tell him your opinions."

0000

"You better not be lying to me Giovanni!" Hayato counters as he could not help but allow a wide smile to appear on his face at the wonderful news.

"I'm serious. I have finally be able to properly calibrate the contacts so they won't be so bothersome or easily dried out." Giovanni claims as he types away on a laptop's keyboard.

"I'll pick them up as soon as I'm able too." Hayato states as he could not help but to smile at the rapid progression of his upgraded Sistema C.I.A..

"Oh and as much as Uri and you fight…he misses scratching your face and has been sharping his claws with his virtual cat post." Giovanni mentions, which causes Hayato to laugh at the comment.

"Tell the little guy that he's going to have to be a little bit patient until I can properly test out the upgrades." Hayato mentions his message to the Vonogla's weapons specialist.

A loud explosion could be heard on the other end, which causes Giovanni to freak out and quickly response with "Uh oh…I got to end this call."

Hayato had to hold the phone far away from his ear as he presses the red phone to end the call with Giovanni.

'_I miss you too, Uri.' _He inwardly thinks as he strolls back over to the car and notices that Haru was already sitting inside of the car.

Hayato silently enters inside of the car and could immediately sense the dark vibe that was emitting from around Haru, who had once again altered for the worse.

His line of thoughts seemed to be accurate when he heard Haru had asked him a question, "So who were you on the phone with?"

Hayato merely sticks the key inside of the ignition, cranks the car up and turns his attention toward Haru, who had her arms folded in the passenger seat.

"It was no one in particular…" he simply answers while silently observing her reaction to his statement.

Haru merely rolls her eyes at Hayato's answer to her question and sits back in her seat with her arms folded across her chest.

"Forget that I even asked you that…" she hastily interjects once Hayato momentarily pauses in the middle of his sentence.

'_Am I reading this wrong or do I sense some type of jealousy in her tone.' _He thinks before he mentally decides to keep that thought to himself.

0000

Tsuna was on his way to his office when he passes by the small training ground and notices I-Pin hard at training with a lazy Lambo taking a nap on the surface of the grass.

A smile appears on his face as he pauses to take in the scene before him, _'The future generation of the Vongola's family is hard at work and well at rest.'_

He then notices that I-Pin had taken a break from her practice regime and starts to converse with a now wake Lambo.

'_I can't believe how fast those two have grown up.' _He notes as he glances at I-Pin and then at Lambo envisions the smaller versions of the respective teens.

The thought of children passes through his mind as he recalls how Kyoko first broke the news to him that she wanted to start a family by having children.

"You wanted to talk to me?" he asks as Kyoko, his wife, was practicing the ancient ritual of tea ceremony as they would do back in Feudal Japan.

She removes the _natsume_, a small lidded container that would contain the powder tea inside, and instructs him to take a seat.

Tsuna quietly makes his way around to the side of his wife and takes a seat on the tatami mat while she picks up a bamboo _chashaku_, or tea scoop, removes a teaspoonful and gently dumps it inside of the _mizuya, _or the preparation area.

Once she completed that, Kyoko reaches out for the _chakin_, or the white linen, to wipe any leftover powder on the _mizuya_ and uses the _chasen_, or the tea whisk, and starts to gently shift the powdered tea. Then while using the _chakin_, she grabs and tilts the steaming kettle until water cascades inside of the _mizuya_.

"Why thank you," he says as Kyoko hands him the prepared cup of tea, which he gratefully takes within his grasps.

'_It smells really good.' _Tsuna mentally thinks as he gently blows on the surface of the hot liquid and takes a small sip.

"What do you think about…having children?" she inquires while he sips on the tea and waits for his response to his question.

'_Children…did she just say children?' _he thought in a state of shock.

The sound of the word "children" causes him to suddenly forget that he was drinking a very hot liquid and accidentally gulps down too much at one time.

"Ah…" he shouts as he grabs his throat with the hand that was holding the cups and releases the cup from his hand and stains his own kimono.

Kyoko quickly springs in to action and inquires out of concern "Are you alright, Tsuna-kun?"

Tsuna proceeds to cough until his throat was clear of the liquid with the aid of Kyoko hitting him in the back, "Are you sure you're alright?"

'_I knew sooner or later this topic was going to come up.' _He inwardly notes as he tries to word his next statement so he would not further upset his lovely wife.

He merely nods his head up and down when his responses with, "I do owe you an answer to your question…"

Kyoko patiently waits until Tsuna was able to catch his breath once again, "My first responsibility is to be able to take care of my family at every beck and call."

"I understand." She answers in a sadden tone as she closes her eyes when she felt Tsuna's hand presses against one of her cheeks.

"How about we wait a little later to have kids?" he adds in as she opens her eyes and notices that he was rather serious about his promise.

She happily closes her eyes and reaches up to touch his hand and agrees to the promise, "I would like that very much."

The sound of I-Pin "huhs" breaks him away from his dream state when he suddenly felt bad about not following up with his promise to his wife.

'_I should at least hear why she wants to have kids.'_ he inwardly reasons with himself._ 'Since I never let her explain...because I would always cut her off before she could even finish when I got nervous.'_

'_I'll think that sounds like a wonderful plan.' _He thought as he takes leave from spectating the teens' interaction with one another.

0000

The drive to a local retail store that specialized in clothes suited for newborns, infants and toddlers could have been one in painful silence if it was not for the wonderful invention of the radio.

Occasionally, he would glance at his rear view mirror to check on the status of Chiharu, who was dozing on and off.

Her attempts to stay awake were slightly amusing to the silver haired male since she tried so hard to fight the inevitable…sleep.

'_She's either full of energy and then crashes from using up all of that energy.' _He thought as it reminded him of Haru when she was younger.

'_The energizer bunny' _He recalls a childhood moniker that the children in her neighborhood would call her whenever he would visit her.

That thought cause him to cut his eyes briefly over to the brunette woman to see that she was intensively focused on the scenery outside of the car.

He then drives the car in to the parking lot of the retail store and searches for a vacant parking spot until he locates one and parks there.

"We're here!" he announces to the two in the car, which causes Chiharu to stop bobbling her head and turn up on her energy level.

Haru, on the other hand, did not seem to respond to the sudden rush of excitement as Chiharu did as she exits from the passenger side of the car, rounds to Chiharu's side, and removes her from the backseat.

Hayato merely gestures for the two to lead the way as he closely follows the pair in a protective manner and swiftly scans the parking lot for any potential hostiles.

As much as Haru silently despised her turn of luck in to misfortune, she was secretly glad that Hayato was assigned as her guardian.

There was never a single doubt or sense of fear since she knew Hayato would protect them with everything he had in his arsenal and would not hesitate to lay his life down on the line.

'_It's always comforting to know that someone else is worried about your well-being.' _She thought as she hoisted Chiharu up on her hip.

Haru slightly turns her head to look at Chiharu up close to see that she was leaning backwards in her grasp in order to check out her new surroundings.

She pushes a stray strand of brown hair away from in front of her precious face since she was previously shaking her head wildly left and right.

The sight of her grey eyes with brown hints catches her attention as she quickly cuts her gaze from Chiharu to Hayato, _'I wonder has he noticed anything yet?' _

'_How long will I be able to hide this secret away before he figures it out?' _ She silently ponders to herself once she nears the entrance and exit of the store.

'_Does he feel the same way that I do when I'm around him?' _was a question she really wanted to ask him but held off instead.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: **I finally finished with midterms this entire week, which set back the cycle of updates that I had planned to do this week but nevertheless I will get it done. Please continue to read and review with suggestions, questions, or statements so I know that you all are still reading this faithfully.

Thanks, aisha12894

**0000**

"Whew," Kyoko emits from her mouth as she wipes away the perspiration that formed across her forehead with the back of her hand.

'_I managed to make everyone's favorite and even threw in a couple of new dishes.' _She studies her hard work in front of her while she rests her clenched fist against her hip.

Bianchi pokes her head inside of the kitchen and notices that Kyoko had finished with dinner. She decides to make her presence know when she voices, "It looks like you didn't need my help at all."

She glances over her shoulder to see the older woman with her head inside of the kitchen and explains, "Once you get use to cooking for a lot of people it starts to get a whole lot easier."

"I guess I can go ahead and get the help." Bianchi offers, which earns a nod of approval from Kyoko, who claims, "That would help a lot."

'_She reminds me of…' _She halts in the middle of her thoughts before she decide to complete the task instead of reminiscing about the past.

Bianchi retraces her steps until she venture to the small outer training grounds where the teenagers usually hung out.

The sights of I-Pin hitting the dummy and Lambo off in the grass fast asleep was a part of their daily routine that they would do at the time.

However, there was something slightly different about Lambo's current position than his usual setup.

Instead of lying with his back against the ground, he propped his head up with one of his hands and watched I-Pin as the young girl train.

'_Hm…what's going on here?' _Bianchiwonders to herself as she waits to reveal herself to the pair while she observes Lambo's actions.

A smile stretches across her face once she realizes that her prediction was correct and assumes, _'It's about time.'_

"Lambo and I-Pin, help set the table." Bianchi orders as she removes her body from behind the wooden column.

I-Pin immediately ceases her training, spins around, spots Bianchi with a smile on her face, and responses, "We'll be there."

Lambo merely rolls back on to his back, stares up at the afternoon sky, releases a deep sigh, and lifts his left leg across his right.

"Come up on Lambo-kun." I-Pin suggests as she hovers over his face when she watches him pop one eye open.

Lambo quickly rotates his head to the other side when he realizes how close I-Pin's face was to his to conceal a blush.

"If you help, I'll let you eat all the candy you want." She offers since she knew that if you want Lambo to do anything you have to bribe him with candy.

"Fine," He huffs out with his face away from hers as he raises his upper torso toward his knees and hops to his feet.

Bianchi backtrack her path with a wider grin on her face after she witnessed the sight in front of her only to catch a glimpse of headlights glow in the driveway.

'_It seems as if the Vongola has been struck by Cupid, himself.' _She concludes to herself as she enters inside of the dining hall.

0000

Hayato drives within the Vongola's family secured headquarters driveway before he parks in his designated location.

'_At least the drive here wasn't as bad as the last time.' _He thought as he recalls a rather large knot on his forehead that stung whenever he touched it after he woke up to a hangover.

'_I really should cut back on the alcohol.' _Hayato orders himself as he shifts the car from drive to park and ceases the car's engine.

Chiharu sits in the back of the car while she hums a mash up of nursery rhymes and bobs her head to her own little rhythm.

"If my stomach doesn't get any food I think it will eat itself." Haru claims after her stomach emits a loud groan while she blushes from embarrassment.

Hayato simply complies when he presses the unlock button and allows her to open the door so she can reach her little girl.

The couple travels toward the front entrance in a comfortable silence as Hayato holds the door open for Haru and Chiharu to pass through.

As much as he was grateful to have finally come to a peaceful agreement between him and Haru, he could not help but to remember that faithful night where she abandoned him with just a letter.

'_I can't think about that right now.'_

'_It was already hard enough for her to start trusting me to be alone with Chiharu. I don't want to mess that up.'_

'_So you don't want to know more about Chiharu and where she came from?'_

'_You can't deny the fact that you want to know whether or not that stupid woman cheated on you when she was in America.'_

"Hayato," the topic of his thoughts break him out of his inner war with his consciousness as he casts his eyes in her direction.

"Are you alright?" her voice and eyes expresses genuine concern, which slightly bothers him since he was used to being open with his thoughts and feeling especially towards her.

'_No because you won't be honest with me and it kills me to have secret between me and you.'_ He wanted to verbalize but instead it was, "I'm just a little tired."

'_You're lying to me. Why don't you really voice your opinion on how you feel about me being back?' _She counters but voices, "The bags under your eyes tell the truth."

'_I'm still in love with you! I can't accept the fact that after all these years we spent together that you do not trust me with the truth.' _"I think I might ask Juudaime for a vacation once we handle this business."

"Come on in you two or you won't get any of this delicious food." Takeshi proclaims once he steps out of the dining room and in to the hallway where he spots Haru, Chiharu, and Hayato.

"Mama…food," Chiharu utters after she hears Takeshi's announcement about the food.

"Let's go then and say hello to Aunt Kyoko." She tells the young tot in her grasps, as she strolls toward the entrance and passes by Takeshi.

Takeshi maintains his smile until Haru and Chiharu were out of sight after he leans over and slides the door back in to place.

"You look absolutely miserable." He admits once he returns his sights on to the silver haired male in front of him.

Hayato simply jams his hands inside of his pants pockets, shifts his weight to his left leg, and glares at the brunette haired male in front of him.

Takeshi scratches the back of his head with the other hand up in the air with the palm toward Hayato as a gesture of innocence.

Hayato advances forward until he stands side by side with Takeshi and voices, "You of all people can read me like an open book."

He maintains his straightforward stare while he listens to Hayato draw back the door to the loud noise in the dining room, crosses the threshold, and returns the door to its original position.

Takeshi releases a sigh and resumes his previous action before he had bumped in to the previous lovers out in the middle of the hallway.

As his footsteps echoes with each step, he could not help but to think, _'At least he looks a little bit better compared to when she first got here.' _

0000

"I need an update on the progress of locating the power source for the Fountain of Youth." A masculine voice orders to his subordinate that stands before him.

"…but sir, I thought you already wanted the plan to accelerate?" the subordinate reminds their boss about the plans that he had made.

The male snaps his head toward his subordinate direction and hisses his question, "Did I ask you to remind me of what I said beforehand?"

"No, sir." The subordinate apologies for their rash behavior after being subjected to an intense glare from their boss.

"I didn't think so." He reprimands his subordinate while he leans against his black leather office chair and folds his hands in front of his face.

The subordinate observes their boss, who was in his current thinking pose, since his eyes were cast toward the wall.

'_Other families probably have scouts lying in wait ready for any signal from their upper echelon to enforce their strike._' He assumes to himself before he directs his attention back on to his subordinate and commands them to, "Tell the agent, he has less than three days before his service will no longer be needed."

"…and what if he's able to deliver the package on time to you?" the subordinate suggests once they lift their torso up from a bow motion.

"His life will be spared." He simply answers as he lays one of his arm against the arm rest before he adds, "Even you can agree that a human's life in the balance create a insatiable drive to accomplish the task at hand by any means necessary, right?"

"You're right my lordship." The subordinate agrees with their boss' mindset about holding life in the balance as a form of motivation to complete a task.

"So now that we're on one accord, get the job done or it will be your life that hangs in the balance instead of theirs." He threatens as a ring on his finger begins to glow from his display of ire.

'_He's already lost his patience with this plan that he's becoming reckless.'_ The subordinate analyzes from their conversation.

0000

"So how's it been going with my younger brother?" Bianchi inquires about how Hayato treats Haru and Chiharu under his watch.

"Bianchi," Haru speaks up when Bianchi asks, "Yes, what is it Haru-chan?"

"How long has Hayato been drinking like a fish?"

'_Once he realized that he had been abandoned again by someone who he truly and deeply loved.' _"2 years plus he picked back up on his chain smoking too."

"Has he smoked any around Chiharu?"

"Oh no, he knows I can't allow that around Chiharu."

"What made you bring that up?"

"The other night we were here he tried to drive home completely intoxicated and even banged his head against the roof of the car."

'_Oh that's nothing…I have seen far worse from him.'_

"I think tonight's he trying to make an effort not to drink an entire sake bottle to himself. I'm surprised at that." Bianchi divulges while she witnesses Hayato pass the bottle of sake off to his right and not pour him any in his cup.

"I guess he finally found the proper motivation to beat his alcohol addiction." She admits once she brings the cup to her lips and sips the liquid contents.

Haru's face flushes a rosy pink color after she listens to what Bianchi just told her as she assumes that she was the motivation that Bianchi hints at.

"Then again I could just be an overprotective sister, who overthinks about the smallest indication at a potential recovery from a sickening obsession." Bianchi claims as she settles her drink near the top of her plate, closes her eyes, and shrugs her shoulder.

"Lambo, give me back my Gyoza bun!" I-Pin proclaims while Lambo waves his spoils of victory around in between his chopsticks.

"You're too slow, pinball head!" he counters in a singsong voice as he flashes his capture piece around him.

I-Pin narrows her vision as a means to concentrate before she shoots her chopsticks out when Lambo was about to drop the bun inside of his mind and swipes it away from him.

A confuse and off guard Lambo bites down on his wooden chopsticks when disappointment materializes on his face when he peers over at I-Pin, who chews with a wide grin on her face.

The two women that spectates the interaction between the two could not help but to agree that Lambo was in the wrong and that he was properly punished by the Chinese assassin.

Plus they shared the same sentiments about one's hidden feelings for the other as they giggle at Lambo since it reminds them of when they were younger.

"Everyone, there's announcement that I would like to make." Tsuna speaks up after he raises to his feet and scans the faces of his family.

"What is it Tsuna-niisan?" Futa inquires about the content of the announcement from Tsuna.

"Since everyone's been working so hard, I wanted to treat everyone to a vacation at our beach house." He broadcasts the content of his message to the guardians and members of Vongola.

"I could use a vacation." Ryohei admits after he sips water from his cup and positions it off to the left side of the plate.

"Me too," Hayato chimes in agreement.

"I have been understaffed at the restaurant so I need a nice long break from working so hard." Takashi discloses

"We're going to the beach house yay!" I-Pin proclaims with a wide grin on her face from excitement.

"Tsuna-nii is ranked number one when it comes to knowing his comrades need." Futa reads from his book.

"I think it's a lovely idea. We haven't been there since we were teenagers." Kyoko agrees to the idea

"So it's agreed upon then. We will leave the day after tomorrow but for now let's enjoy each other's presence.


	20. Chapter 20

Tsuna emerges once again from his office space in order to take a break from the never ending paperwork about future family alliances that graces the surface of his desk.

'_You should get out more often or your health will start to suffer.' _He recalls Kyoko's gentle yet stern warning about his health since he spends too much time inside.

A smile stretches across his face at his wife's genuine concern and care about his current living condition.

'_She takes good care of me and doesn't ask too much of me.' _He happily thinks with a chuckle at the thought of how lucky he was to have Kyoko as his wife.

It was at that moment; he released a heavy sigh and thought to himself. '_Yet I can't even fulfill one of her biggest wishes.'_

'_What kind of husband am I?' _he ponders to himself as he leans against a wooden support beam and crosses his arms underneath his chest.

Tsuna notices that Ipin and Lambo were no longer in the backyard and assumes that they were inside completing chores.

'_I just realize something…' _he thinks to himself as his eyes cast over to setting sun and the sky alters from a sky blue color to a mixture of purples, oranges, blues, and whites hues.

'…_we haven't had a proper vacation.' _Tsuna completes his previous thought when he removes himself from against the beam.

'_The vacation home in Shirahama should do the trick.' _He inwardly declares to himself before he returns back to his office to make the proper arrangements.

'_It should be a nice surprise for everyone since they have worked so hard in the past couple of weeks.' _Tsuna mentally deems as he strolls in the direction of his office.

'…_not to mention that it would give me some quality time with Kyoko…' _he smirks to himself as thinks about his wife and how happy she would be to hear the announcement of a vacation.

0000

"Can we stop by the apartment so we can drop these clothes off?" Haru inquires to Hayato as she settles Chiharu inside of the backseat of the car.

Hayato simply nods his head to show that he agrees with the idea and places the bags that were in his hand in the back along with Chiharu.

Haru removes herself from the backseat and rounds the car when Hayato asks her another question, "Are you alright?"

His question seems to strike a chord within her which causes her to freeze up and ponders, _'Is it that obvious?' _

'_He did date you for quite some years or did you already forget that?' _her consciousness screams at her with a hand palm to her own forehead.

Haru narrowed her sights in on the silver haired male who stood across from her on the driver's side of the car.

"When you have a active two year old that you have to constantly watch because you are too afraid that someone might snatch her from right under your grasp not to mention that you are leery about everyone who come around you because you don't know if they are dangerous or not, how would you feel?" she angrily rambles before she swiftly opens the door, takes a seat and slams shut the door.

Hayato did not have enough time to process what Haru said when she opens the door and screams, "Oh and don't let me forget about the sleepless nights when I watched over her because I was scared someone might kidnap her while I was sleep!"

'_Okay...maybe I should have never asked if she was alright.' _He mulls over his decision about whether or not he should have ask Haru that question.

'_You did the right thing because you care about her.' _his consciousness screams at him with a hand palm to his own forehead.

Hayato pulls open the handle to the driver's side, occupies the driver's seat, glances over to his right and notices a frustrated and exhausted Haru.

'_Comfort her!' _his mind shouts at his owner but his body initally seems to go against his mental action or at least that was what he thought.

He could feel his hand on top of hers which causes her attention to turn to him, "What do you think you're doing?"

Hayato inwardly knew that Haru secretly appreciated the gesture since his hand remained on her hand. "You're obviously stressed out about what's going on that deals with you and Chiharu. That's why Tsuna placed me on this assignment because…" he pauses in the middle of his sentence.

Haru raise one of her eyebrows as she listens in to what Hayato was telling her, _'I already know why he assigned you to me.' _

"…he knew I was the only one who could put your fears to ease and allow you and Chiharu to live a normal life." he admits with a serious expression on her face.

"You of all people should already know that. It's up to you whether or not you accept my presence and my help." Hayato expresses a sense of concern for the woman to his right.

Haru glances down at his hand and swear she could feel his warmth travels throughout her body, which eases the tension in her body.

She casts her gaze at his face, nods her head, and proclaims, "I do."

0000

Bianchi places the phone back on the hook and momentarily pauses with her hand still on the handle.

She closed her eyes tightly to prevent the tears that welled up in her eyes when she thought to herself, _'I made it through…'_

A heavy sigh released from her lips as her hand was wrapped around the phone once again as she silently willed herself to let go.

'_It's just that…I can't bring myself to do it.' _Bianchi contemplates whether or not she should redial the number or not.

"There are consequences for those who break the rules for their own personal gain. If you do then I will have to bite you to death." A masculine voice breaks her away from her thought when she faces none other than the Cloud guardian, Hibari, Kyoya." He states with his tonfas branded toward the woman.

Bianchi eyes widen at the statement from the aloof man, who seeming comes and goes as he wills with no visible and defined ties to the Vongola family.

Luckily for Bianchi, the potentially awkward moment did not last too last since the young man simply vanished from her sights.

She turns her attention back to the phone thoroughly surprise that her hand did not adjust due to her sudden movement.

'_How will I be able to live with myself once he finds out?' _she inwardly inquires since she knows that her brother's inquisitive spirit would eventually lead him to discover the secret in due time.

Her conversation with Kyoko from earlier about children causes her to think _'Children born in to the mafia world only have a cruel faith that awaits them.'_

Yet there were women like Kyoko and Haru that gave her hope that there is a possibility that her mindset could change for the better.

She releases another sigh, removes her hand from the body of the phone, and places her hand at her side.

'_Hayato's my little brother…but even he has grown up to be a wonderful young man. It's time for me to take a step back and allow him to make that decision on his own.'_

Kyoko soon enters her sights which cause Bianchi to face her with a small smile to copy the one that was present on her face as well.

0000

"What are you doing Lambo?" I-Pin questions when she notices Lambo stuffing something in his pockets.

"Mind your business." He mutters with a lollipop in his mouth as he focuses in on completing his initial goal before the arrival of I-Pin.

I-Pin moves closer to Lambo before she notices that he stuffs his pockets full of candy and pops a couple in his mouth as well.

"You know eating candy before dinner ruins your appetite." She mentions in a concern tone as she folds her arms underneath her chest.

Lambo turns his attention toward the raven haired woman with a "leave me alone" expression on his face.

I-Pin refuses to back down from Lambo and kicks the candy from his hand before she picks each and every one of them out of the air.

A groan escapes from his mouth as he grasps his hand from the pain of being kicked by I-Pin, "Was that really necessary?"

"If it will prove my point to you then I will keep doing it." I-Pin claims with a solemn expression on her face when she takes a stance against Lambo.

Lambo narrows his vision on the teen aged girl in front of him as he reaches for a handful of candy only to have the same thing happen to him again.

"I told you I will keep doing it until you stop." I-Pin firmly states when she watches him reach again and again and again.

Eventually the throbbing in Lambo's hand became unbearable that he cease all actions on obtaining more candy than he already have in his pockets.

"I swear you can be so stubborn sometimes." I-Pin declares with an unchanging expression on her face as she waits for Lambo to move from his "secret" candy spot.

"I swear you can be a stick in the mud sometimes." Lambo mocks with a dull expression on his face as he continues to enjoy the lollipop in his mouth.

0000

Hayato, Haru, and Chiharu arrived back at the shared apartment and parked in an empty parking lot.

"What time is dinner again?" Haru inquires about the time that they were going to leave in order to make it to dinner at the Vongola's headquarters.

Hayato briefly checks the time on the radio's clock and answers with, "It should be in an hour or so why?"

"Chiharu smells like she needs a bath and a diaper change." She mentions as she pinches her nose and fans her hand to emphasis her point.

"Are you washing up too?" he asks about her plans.

"Trust me…" she suddenly announces "…when you deal with what she's packing back there then you definitely want water on you as soon as possible."

Chiharu loudly giggled and clapped her hands together as if she understood what Haru, her mother, just said about her and her personal hygiene.

"See even she agrees with me." Haru states when a small smile spreads across her face after she looks at Chiharu

"We will leave once you're both ready." Hayato comments before he agrees with, "I should do the same thing and take a shower."

'_Why do I get the feeling that someone is watching us?' _he notes before the answer to his question makes their way down the flight of stairs to the parking lot.

"Ah Haru-chan and Hayato-san, how are you?" Daisuke greets the pair with a smile on his face as he was clad in a brown apron and a metallic watering can in his left hand.

'_Just great…the person who I didn't want to see at all shows up.' _He angrily mulls over after he sees the man known as Daisuke enter his vision.

"I'm doing pretty well, thanks for asking." She returns the greeting to the man with a small smile on his face before she asks, "What about yourself?"

A wide smile stretches across his face after he hears her question, "I'm doing much better now that I've seen your beautiful face."

It took everything Hayato had not to throw up in front of them from the sappy corny line that Daisuke just delivered. _'He really could have come up with something a little better_

A small blush appears across her face at the compliment and accepts the compliment with a similar smile on her face.

'_And she's the type to fall for statements like that…'_

'_You better keep him under a tight watch.'_

'_Already doing that.'_


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: **Happy New Years! I know you have waited since Novemeber for this update and I appericate your patience with me and this story. I was going to post this chapter yesterday but the inspiration was not there. So I don't want to hold you up anymore here's the new chapter to Drawing Days.

**0000**

Hayato unlocks their apartment door, thrusts the door forward, and steps aside so that Haru and Chiharu can enter inside.

"Go ahead and get ready for a bath." Haru says to Chiharu after they step out of their shoes at the entrance. She nods her head before she dashes off in the direction of a bedroom.

"It shouldn't take Haru too long to get Chiharu cleaned up." She claims once he closes and locks the door behind them.

"Are you ever going to stop talking in third person?" he wonders out loud as Haru listens to Hayato's questions when she squats to scoop up her and her daughter's shoes.

"If Haru stops now then she wouldn't be true to herself besides it's not so bad once you're used to it." She retorts with a small smile on her face while he steps out of his dress shoes.

'_You got that right.' _He quietly agrees to the brunette's haired woman statement as she straightens to her normal height.

"…but we shouldn't take too long in the bath if we are then you should just knock on the door and we will be out your way." Haru suggests before she covers the distance from the living room to the bathroom.

'_At least there isn't a sense of sadness in her tone anymore.' _He notes as she disappears inside of the bathroom to tend to her daughter's hygenie.

Hayato cuts his eyes over to the television and recognizes a familiar show that displays on the screen.

"Oh my god I love this show!" Haru happily shrills as she stands behind the sofa and points at the television screen with enthusaim evident on her facial expression.

Hayato peers up at his girlfriend with a 'are you really serious' expression before he expresses, "You have got to be freaking kidding me."

He raises the remote to the screen, presses the down arrow, changes the channel, and observes her reaction.

"Turn back to it!" She shrieks as she hops over the couch and starts to fight for the remote only to have him hold it out of her reach.

"No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!"

"Well then if you don't hande me the remote then there is no dinner for you." Haru threatens as she waits for an opening so she could secure the remote for herself.

"I'll just go out and get some free sushi from the baseball idiot." He counters with a smirk as he extends the remote out of her area.

A smirk stretches across her face once she conjures up a plan to obtain the remote when she voice, "…but Yamamato-san doesn't make your favorite though."

"Wait a minute…are you trying to bribe me with _that _just so you can watch this stupid show?" Hayato questions his girlfriend's intention.

"Ah but that would be way too easy for you since you would just up and leave me to myself to watch it. Oh no…you have to sit through this with me." She states her demand while she closes her eyes and waves her right hand up and down.

'_One show shouldn't be too bad besides it's not often that she would volunteer to do that for me.' _He weighs to himself the potential consequences of his final decision.

"Fine, you win." He consents after he exhales a deep sigh and hands over the remote to the brunette haired woman, who wears a suspicious smile.

'_Hook…line…sinker…'_ She thinks as she flips back to the channel that broadcast one of her favorite animes.

"Stay tune for a _marathon_ of…" A voice announces from the colored tube.

Haru casts her eyes over to her right to see Hayato's facial expression contort to one of sheer horror and utter realization.

She could not help but to giggle at the success of her plot to obtain the television plus have Hayato obey her bidding.

'_That was the first time that I discovered that she had a dark side to her but I guess that's what happens when you hang around the mafia lifestyle for too long.' _he concludes as a smirk stretches across his face.

"Hey don't go out there Hayato is out there!" Haru shouts a warning to her daughter but it was by then far too late.

Hayato witnesses a naked toddler sprint in a mad dash across the living room floor as her laughter erases the silence in the apartment.

"Come back here now young lady or you will be in big trouble!" Haru reprimands her with a towel in her grasps as she tries to catch her active daughter.

In Chiharu's mind, she views it as a chase as she nimbly ducks, skillfully dodges, and gracefully tumbles to avert her mother's arm when they near her.

Hayato could not help but find the sight rather adorable when a thought passes through his mind, _'I wonder how much Chiharu's father had missed out on memories like these?'_

He extends his arms out just in time to snag the rambunctious little girl since her attention was solely focus in on her mother.

A pout was evident on Chiharu's face once she realized that she was caught and was handed back to her mother, who wrapped the towel around her body.

"Thank you...Hayato-_kun_." She genuinely thanks the silver haired male for his assistant before she hauls her daughter back to the bathroom.

He pauses to himself for a few minutes as his mind processes what honorific she just attach to his first name.

'_At least she thanked me…'_

0000

Tsuna strides inside of the kitchen to see his wife and I-Pin hard at work on the various dishes that was going to be serve for dinner tonight.

Kyoko rotates her head to her left to spot her husband at the door of the kitchen while she washes her hand with soap and water.

"To whom do I owe the honor of this visit to?" she jokes as she reaches out for a towel in order to dry her wet hands.

Tsuna chuckles at his wife's question before he receives a kiss on a cheek from her. "I just wanted to check in on my wife since I don't get out of my office too often."

Her statement produces a smile to stretch across her face since she knew that she was the one who had advised him to take thirty minute breaks so he can get out and breathe in fresh air.

"Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I will make an announcement at tonight's dinner." He discloses to her as she quirks an eyebrow at the statement.

"An announcement? I wonder what it is that you might tell the family." She mutters to herself before she leans in closer and whispers, "...is it about you know who?"

"No its not but what I can tell you is that it is good news and much needed for this family." Tsuna divulges to his wife with a small smile on his face.

Kyoko ponders over the thought for a brief minute when she voices, "Well if it is good news then I'm sure we need a little bit of that around here."

"Just promise me that you won't tell anybody else what I told you about the announcement." He asserts to his wife in a grave tone.

"When have I ever broken a promise that was exchanged between the two of us?" she questions with a warm expression on her face.

"You're right about that." Tsuna agrees with his wife before he kisses her on her forehead and speaks, "I should return to that mountain of paperwork on my desk."

"Alright then just make sure you're done before dinner starts or you won't have anything to eat." Kyoko warns him while she resumes with the preparation of the meals for tonight's dinner.

0000

Hibari Kyoya was a man of action, intelligence, and not to mention quite handsome so who in their right mind would have the nerve to challenge the Vongola family when it has a man of his status within its possession.

'_These death threats are elementary compared to the others that the Vongola family received over the years.'_

'_A real mafia family with dignity about themselves would have issued an official declaration or a notice not random cut out letters pasted on to a sheet of paper.'_

'_There's a possibility that there are still remnants of the mafia in America but not on the scale as the Italians or the Japanese.'_

'_If Haru hasn't received any while she's been in Japan then that means we could have delivered the package right on their doorsteps.' _

'_They probably assumed that since she had connections with the Vongola family that Tsunayoshi would do everything in his power as Juudaime to protect her. They also predicted that she would return home for a sense of comfort since the headquarters is stationed here.'_

'_Now all they have to do is lie in wait for the perfect time to strike and acquire their targets…'_

0000

Hayato's ears pick up on the sound of Chiharu's giggles, which registers as one thing she managed to escape from her mother's arms once again.

He pokes his head outside of the room he occupies to see the two year old glue to the colored television screen as she giggles at the images in front of her.

'_At least she isn't naked…although I remember Haru told me she used to do that often when she was little.'_

'_No wonder that's where Chiharu acquired that streak from __none other than that stupid woman herself.'_

Once he was completely dressed, Hayato emerged from the room and walked over to where the toddler sat lonesome on the couch.

"Mr. Hayato…" she happily greets him once she directs her greyish brown eyes toward him.

"What is it, Ms. Chiharu?" he politely inquires toward the younger girl, who merely beams him her precious smile.

The toddler was quiet for a couple of minutes, which prompts Hayato speak up but she beats him to the punch.

"Do you like mommy?" Chiharu asks at the time her mother was about to declare her presence but hangs back after she overhears her daughter's question.

Haru critically observes Hayato's face for any type of signs of yes or no but there was none until he simply smirks at Chiharu.

"If I tell you then it has to be a secret between us two, okay?" Hayato claims as his index finger rests against his lips as a gesture for her to be quiet.

Chiharu rapidly nods her head up and down that her ponytail shakes from the sudden jerk movements as her agreement to the promise.

Haru watches as Hayato leans in closer to her daughter's ear and whispers his answer before he leans back on the arm of the couch with the same smirk on his face.

'_What was his answer to her question?' _she wonders to herself as she advances forward and declares her presence, "Haru is all ready to go."

Hayato and Chiharu both turn their heads in her direction to see Haru emerge from the hallway with a smile present on her face.

"Mommy!" Chiharu shrieks once she spots her mother right before she hops off of the couch while Hayato copies the tot's action.

"Ladies, first," he offers as he opens the door wide enough for the pair to cross the threshold when he follows after them.

Hayato makes sure to lock the apartment's door behind him before he sifts through the numerous keys on the metallic ring for the car keys.

The trio travels to the car when Hayato halts after he unlocks the door and glances over one of his shoulders. _'There's something off about this...' _

For some reason he could not shake this feeling that there was something that he had overlooked while he scans their apartment surroundings. _'It's the exact same feeling from the first time that we got here.' _

"Hey," Haru's voice breaks him out of his inspection as he snaps his head in her direction.

"Is everything alright?" she questions as she leans across the passenger seat and peers up at Hayato, who stares at a random direction.

"Yeah…I thought I saw something that's all." Hayato claims as he idly opens the car door and slides inside of the driver's seat.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: Here's the official update for Drawing Days. I appreciate all of that the support, reviews and follows from the fans that adore this fiction so I don't want to keep you waiting. Enjoy the chapter!**

**0000**

"Whew," Takeshi emits from his mouth as he wipes away the perspiration that forms across her forehead with the back of his hand.

'_I managed to make everyone's favorite and even threw in a couple of new dishes.' _he studies his hard work that lays out in front of his sights while he rests his arms underneath his chest.

Bianchi and Kyoko pokes their heads inside of the kitchen and notices that Takeshi wraps up the final touches for dinner. The pair decides to make their presence know when Kyoko revels, "It looks like you didn't need my help at all."

He peers over his shoulder to see the Bianchi and Kyoko with their head inside of the kitchen and explains, "The flow in the restaurant is much more fast paced than this so it just gives me a lot of time to prep everything without having to rush."

"I guess I can go ahead and get the help." Bianchi offers, which earns a nod of approval from Kyoko, who claims, "That would help a lot."

'_She reminds me of…' _She halts in the middle of her thoughts before she decides to complete the task instead of reminiscing about the past.

Bianchi retraces her steps until she ventures out toward the small outer training grounds where the teenagers usually hung out to relax or train.

The sight of I-Pin hitting the dummy with an open palms along with a dozing Lambo in the grass was a part of their daily routine at that specific time.

However, there was something slightly different about Lambo's current position than his usually normal setup.

Instead of lying with his back against the ground, he was supporting his head up with one of his hands and watching I-Pin as the young girl train.

'_Hm…what's going on here?' _Bianchi wonders to herself as she delays revealing herself to the pair since she observes Lambo's actions.

A smile stretches across her face once she realizes that her prediction was correct and assumes, _'It's about time.'_

"Lambo and I-Pin, help set the table." Bianchi loudly orders as she removes her body from behind the wooden column and stands out in the open.

I-Pin immediately ceases her training, spins around, spots Bianchi with a smile on her face, and affirms, "We'll be right there."

Lambo merely rolls on to his back, stares up at the afternoon sky, releases a deep sigh, and lifts his left leg, and crosses it over his right knee.

"Come on Lambo-kun." I-Pin suggests as she hovers over his face when she observes him pop one eye open.

Lambo quickly rotates his head to the other side once he realizes how close I-Pin's face was to his as he conceals the blush that tints his cheeks.

"If you help, I'll let you eat all the candy you want." She offers since she knew that if you want Lambo to do anything you have to bribe him with a boatload of candy.

"Fine," He huffs out with his face away from hers as he raises his upper torso toward his knees and hops to his feet.

Bianchi backtracks her path with an even wider grin on her face after she witnesses the teenagers interaction with one another in front of her. It was at that moment, a set of headlights glow in the middle of the driveway.

'_It seems as if the Vongola family has been struck by Cupid, himself.' _She jokingly asserts to herself as she enters inside of the dining hall.

0000

Hayato motors along the Vongola's family secured headquarters driveway before he parks in his designated location.

'_At least the drive here wasn't as bad as the last time.' _He reasons before he recalls a rather large knot on his forehead that stings whenever he touches it after he wakes up from a hangover.

'_I really should cut back on the alcohol.' _Hayato orders himself as he tugs at the car's gear shift until it moves from drive to park and ceases the car's engine.

Chiharu poises in the backseat of the car in the middle of her mash up of nursery rhymes as she bobs her head to the little rhythm.

"If my stomach doesn't get any food I think it will eat itself." Haru claims after her stomach emits a loud groan, which causes her to blush from embarrassment.

Hayato simply complies when he presses the unlock button and allows her to open the door so she can reach her little girl.

The couple travels to the front entrance in a comfortable silence as Hayato holds the door open for Haru and Chiharu to pass through.

As much as he was grateful to have finally come to a peaceful agreement between him and Haru, he could not help but to remember that faithful night where she abandoned him with just a letter.

'_I can't think about that right now.'_

'_It was already hard enough for her to start trusting me to be alone with Chiharu. I don't want to mess that up.'_

'_So you don't want to know more about Chiharu? Especially along the lines of where she came from?'_

'_You can't deny the fact that you want to know whether or not that stupid woman cheated on you when she was in America.'_

"Hayato," the topic of his personal thought breaks him out of his inner war with his consciousness as he casts his eyes in her direction.

"Are you alright?" her voice and eyes expresses genuine concern, which slightly bothers him since he was used to being open with his thoughts and feelings, especially toward her.

'_No because you won't be honest with me and it kills me to have secrets between me and you.'_ He wanted to verbalize but instead it was voiced as, "I'm just a little tired."

'_You're lying to me. Why don't you really voice your opinion on how you feel about me being back?' _She mentally countered but spoke, "The bags under your eyes tell the truth."

'_I'm still in love with you baka! I can't sit here and accept the fact that after all these years we spent together that you don't trust me with the truth.' _"I think I might ask Juudaime for a vacation once we conclude on this business."

Takeshi steps outside of the dining room and out on the hallway and notices Haru, Chiharu, and Hayato, which prompts him to proclaims, "Come on in you two or you won't get any of this delicious food."

"Mama…food," Chiharu softly utters in her mother's ear after she hears Takeshi's announcement about the food.

"Let's go then and say hello to Aunt Kyoko." She tells the young tot in her arms as she starts to stroll to the entrance of the dining room and passes by Takeshi.

Takeshi maintains his smile until Haru and Chiharu were out of sight after he leans forward and slides the shoji door back in to its proper place.

"You look absolutely miserable." He admits once he returns his sights on to the silver haired male in front of him.

Hayato simply jams his hands inside of his pants pockets, shifts his weight to his left leg, and glares at the brunette haired male in front of him.

Takeshi scratches the back of his head with the opposite hand up in the air with the palm toward Hayato as a gesture of innocence.

Hayato advances forward until he stands side by side with Takeshi and voices, "You of all people can read me like an open book."

He maintains his straightforward stare while he listens to Hayato draw back the door to the loud noise in the dining room, crosses the threshold, and returns the door to its original position.

Takeshi releases a sigh and resumes his previous action before he had bumped in to the previous lovers out in the middle of the hallway.

As his footsteps echoes in the corridor with each step he takes, he could not help but to think, _'At least he looks a little bit better compared to when she first got here.' _

0000

"I need an update on the progress of locating the power source for the Fountain of Youth." A masculine voice orders to his subordinate that stands before him.

"…but sir, I thought you already wanted the plan to accelerate faster than its normal pace?" the subordinate reminds their boss about the plans that he had made.

The male snaps his head toward his subordinate direction and hisses his question, "Did I ask you to remind me of what I said beforehand?"

"No, sir." The subordinate apologies for their rash behavior after being subjected to an intense glare from their boss.

"I didn't think so." He reprimands his subordinate while he leans against his black leather office chair and folds his hands in front of his face.

The subordinate observes their boss, who was in his current pose whenever he needs to formulate a plan, since his eyes were cast toward the wall.

'_Other families probably have scouts lying in wait ready for any signal from their upper echelon to enforce their strike._' He assumes to himself before he directs his attention back on to his subordinate and commands them to, "Tell the agent, he has less than three days before his service will no longer be needed."

"…and what if he's able to deliver the package on time to you?" the subordinate suggests once they lift their torso up from a bow motion.

"His life will be spared." He simply answers as he lays one of his arm against the arm rest before he adds, "Even you can agree that a human's life in the balance create a insatiable drive to accomplish the task at hand by any means necessary, right?"

"You're right my lordship." The subordinate agrees with their boss' mindset about the concept to hold a life in the balance as a form of motivation to complete a task.

"So now that we're on one accord, get the job done or it will be your life that hangs in the balance instead of theirs." He threatens as a ring on his finger begins to glow a bright flame from his display of ire.

'_He's already lost his patience with this plan that he's becoming reckless.'_ The subordinate analyzes from their conversation.

0000

"So how's it been going with my younger brother?" Bianchi inquires about how Hayato treats Haru and Chiharu under his watch and care.

"Bianchi," Haru speaks up when Bianchi asks, "Yes, what is it Haru-chan?"

"How long has Hayato been drinking like a fish?"

'_Once he realized that he had been abandoned again by someone who he truly and deeply loved.' _"2 years plus he picked back up on his chain smoking too."

"Has he smoked any around Chiharu?"

"Oh no, he knows I can't allow that around Chiharu."

"What made you bring that up?"

"The other night we were here, he tried to drive home completely intoxicated and even banged his head against the roof of the car."

'_Oh that's nothing…I have seen far worse from him.'_

"I think tonight's he trying to make an effort not to drink an entire sake bottle to himself. I'm surprised at that." Bianchi divulges while she witnesses Hayato pass the bottle of sake off to his right and not pour any in his cup.

"I guess he finally found the proper motivation to beat his alcohol addiction." She admits once she brings the cup to her lips and sips the liquid contents.

Haru's face flushes a rosy pink color after she listens to what Bianchi just told her as she assumes that she was the motivation that Bianchi hints at.

"Then again I could just be an overprotective sister, who overthinks about the smallest indication at a potential recovery from a sickening obsession." Bianchi claims as she settles her drink near the top of her plate, closes her eyes, and shrugs her shoulder.

"Lambo, give me back my Gyoza bun!" I-Pin shrieks while Lambo waves his spoils of victory in between his chopsticks around with a goofy grin present on his face..

"You're too slow, pinball head!" he counters in a singsong voice as he flashes his capture piece in front of her face.

I-Pin silently narrows her vision as a means to concentrate before she shoots her chopsticks outward when Lambo was about to drop the bun inside of his mouth and swipes it away from him.

A confuse and off guard Lambo bites down on his wooden chopsticks when disappointment materializes on his face before he peers over at I-Pin, who chews the seize bun with a delightful grin on her face.

The two women that spectates the interaction between the two could not help but to agree that Lambo was in the wrong and that he was properly punished by the Chinese assassin.

Plus they shared the same sentiments about one's hidden feelings for the other as they giggled at Lambo since it reminded them of when they were younger.

"Everyone, there's announcement that I would like to make." Tsuna speaks up after he raises to his feet and scans the faces of his mafia family members.

"What is it Tsuna-niisan?" Futa inquires about the content of the announcement from Tsuna.

"Since everyone's been working so hard, I wanted to treat everyone to a vacation at the beach house." He broadcasts the content of his message to the guardians and members of Vongola.

"I could use a vacation." Ryohei admits after he sips water from his cup and positions it off to the left side of the plate.

"Me too," Hayato chimes in agreement with octopus head.

"I have been understaffed at the restaurant so I need a nice long break from working so hard." Takashi discloses to the group.

"We're going to the beach house yay!" I-Pin happily proclaims with a wide grin on her face from anxiousness couple with excitement.

"Tsuna-nii is ranked number one when it comes to knowing his comrades need." Futa reads aloud his rankings for Tsuna from the pages of his book.

"I think it's a lovely idea. We haven't been there since we were teenagers." Kyoko agrees to the idea of a vacation.

"So it's agreed upon then. We will leave the day after tomorrow but for now let's enjoy each other's presence." Tsuna decrees to his family, which earns him jeers and raise cups in the air.


	23. Chapter 23

Hayato personally hated hospital for the simple fact that he automatically associated it with death and bedridden people.

However, he made an exception since his body felt as if it was on fire at the moment.

'_What's going on?' _Hayato wonders to himself as he hones in on the sound of footsteps, IV machines, and chatter around him.

He opens his eyes, scans his surroundings, and concludes that he was in the emergency room of a hospital.

'_Why am I here?' _he ponders as he attempts to scoot off of the bed when he feels a sharp pain in his left arm as well as his ribs.

A guttural groan emits from his mouth as he rolls on the opposite side of the body once he feels the pain dull a little.

"It looks like the patient is up and moving." Hayato overhears what he assumes was a nurse right before the curtain that separates the patients from each other slides open.

"Sir, can you remember your name?" the nurse politely inquires toward him as she swiftly moves about the small space to check his vitals.

"Hayato Gokudera…" he manages to inform the nurse of his name before he answers a series of questions that was consider as vital information.

'_If I'm here then that means…' _realization dawns on him that if _he _was in the hospital so were the other two.

"Did a young woman by the name of Haru Miura?" Hayato questions the nurse as he attempts to avoid the sharp pain on his left side.

"Haru Miura?" the nurse repeats as if to think of whether or not she heard the name at any point of the day.

A pregnant pause follows until she snaps her fingers and tells him, "That name was being thrown around a couple of times while I pass the ICU."

Hayato eyes widen at the acronym the woman used since those who lives hang in the balance were typically routed there.

'_She didn't say anything about Chiharu.' _He notes as he speaks up once again in order to ask the nurse about Chiharu when the sound of swooning women hit the floor captures his attention.

Hayato rolls his eyes at the action once his brain registers the only person who can cause single, married, divorce women drop to their knees.

'_Oh great…of all the people who got here first…it had to be him…'_

Earlier...

"How is she?" A frantic Kyoko inquires to random doctors that passes by her until they were able to locate help to find out where Haru was.

The doctor assigns a nurse to guide the group to their destination before Shamal breaks away from the crowd with claims to need a "smoke break".

Everyone, who knew Shamal, saw through the lies as an excuse to randomly and shamelessly flirt with the women nurses.

"Should we check on where Hayato is?" Takeshi poses about the silver haired mafiso to Tsuna as they follow close behind the nurse.

"That's why Shamal left." Tsuna mentions to his Rain guardian, which prompts him to quirk an eyebrow at the statement.

It was that moment that he remembered that Shamal mentored Gokudera and even inspired him when he was younger to use bombs and explosives.

"What about Bianchi?"

"She's on the way as we speak now."

An "oh my god" captures the males attention as they peer up to see Kyoko break out in to a sprint after the nurse points them in the right direction.

Various machines were attached to her body as it feed out information to the nurses that surrounded her in order to keep her alive.

The only thing that sent a wave of relief through her body was the constant rise and fall of her chest, which meant she continues to breath.

"She's opening her eyes!"

Kyoko's declaration swiftly ebbs away the silent fear of death that continuously lurks every human being and instead was replace with genuine happiness.

Tsuna peered at his close friend and deemed that after what happened today that it was the appropriate time to reveal the secret.

'_Now is the time…' _

"Excuse me but is there a toddler name Chiharu Miura in the hospital?" Kyoko poses to a nurse, who totes a wooden clipboard within her arms.

"We haven't had any toddler by that name admitted in the hospital at all today." The nurse claims after she peers down at her clipboard to confirm the notion.

Kyoko faces her husband with an expression of concern on her face after she hears what the nurse tells her.

"You don't think…"

Meanwhile,

'_Why am I in so much pain?' _Haru wondered to herself as she opens her heavy lids only to be blinded by a bright light.

'_Am I dead?' _ She questions once she assumes that the bright light was her time to ascend to the heavens.

'_Oh Kami-sama, I'm not yet ready to go and leave Chiharu behind…and Hayato,' _Haru quietly prays when she suddenly realizes that the silver haired mafioso manages to crawl back in to her thoughts.

'_Did he ever leave?' _her conscious probes while she focuses in on the sights before her when she spots a ceiling beyond the light.

Incoherent noises surround her as her mind attempts to process what was going around her as the pain continues to throb throughout her body.

"She's stable doctor." A nurse announces after she checks Haru's vitals that displays the she was no longer in critical condition.

"If you can hear me, Ms. Miura, blink twice." A masculine voice instructs her, which prompts Haru to follow the directions.

"You're in Tokyo Municipal Hospital." The doctor explains to her before he adds, "You were involved in a car accident."

'_A car accident? When…where…how?'_

"Doctor, there's a group of people outside that request to speak to the patient." A nurse informs him in a whispered tone.

"Inform them that once we move the patient to a room that she is free to have a limited amount of visitors until we execute more tests done on her." He issues specific orders to the nurse.

"Ms. Miura," the male doctor calls out her name and waits until he has her focus. "we're moving you to another room."

'_It must be Kyoko and the others…' _She mentally assumes after she overhears what the nurse says as a sense of relief washes over her.

'_Wait a minute...what about Chiharu?!'_

She attempts to question about the location of her child but it hurts to move her mouth not to mention the dryness of her mouth.

0000

"What are you doing here?" Hayato inquires after he hisses from the excoriating pain from his ribs.

He was face to face with none other than his mentor, who introduced him to dynamites even though it clashed with the usage of his mosquitoes he still taught the young lad everything he knew about combat and explosives.

"I can ask the same of you." The male wittingly retorts as he shifts his weight to the left, slides his hands inside of his pants' pockets, and glares at the silver haired male.

Hayato cuts his gaze away from the brunette haired male out of a hidden sense of shame, disgust, and frustration.

"Hayato?" a worried feminine voice questions as it captures the two men attention.

The two males cast their gaze toward a woman with long purplish hair with an expression of concern on her face.

"Bianc…" Not even able to finish her name did he find himself within her arms as she squeezes his neck to see if he was still alive.

"I am so glad you're still alive!" "I thought I lost you when they told me of the car crash!" "Are you hurt anywhere?" She rambles on not aware that she continues to inflict even more damage on his tender body.

A guttural groan emerges from Hayato as the intense pain swiftly travels throughout his body as it forces him to push her off of him.

"What was that for?" Bianchi inquires after the incident when she witnesses him clutch his left side along with a painful expression on her face.

Shamal immediately breaks away from the nurse that tends to Hayato's pain with a handful of painkillers, "Aren't you going to ask about your companion?"

The mention of the word companion causes images of Haru's face to flash through his thoughts. He recalls her facial expression as they wait for the light to turn green.

After that, there was a very bright light along with a blur and was in the emergency room of some local hospital.

"Shit" he mutters under his breath as he transfers his hands to cradle his head as his head starts to pound from his thoughts.

"How is she?" Hayato asks as he attempts to curb any emotion from his tone when he speaks.

Shamal and Bianchi faces each other as if to signal to the other on whether or not which one of them should answer that question.

"She's…"

0000

"Hey…" "What?" "Wonder what the boss wants with that little runt back there?" "Who knows?"

"You think the boss has a fetish for _little girls_?" "Why would you even think that?" "Our boss is…_weird_."

"Ssh…we're about to see the boss now."

"Did you get what was requested of you?" Their boss poses with no emotion present in their voice as they spoke from their oversized leather seat.

The subordinates tossed the tied up unconscious little toddler on the floor in front of their boss' feet.

"Excellent work…" their boss congratulates them on a job well done, which earns an expression of appreciate from them.

A pregnant pause settles among them as their boss rises to their feet, secures their grasp around the rope, and says "…you're dismissed."

The pair bows out of respect before they exit from the main office with thoughts on what their boss plans could be with a little girl.

"Maybe we will find out in a couple of days." One of the subordinates suggests to his comrade, who nods his head in agreement.

"Can't say that it will be any quiet from this point on…"

"...especially since we picked a fight with none other than the Vongola family themselves."

0000

The wheels of the hospital bed rolls forward as Haru observes her surroundings while her mind starts to race about the location of her daughter.

'_Maybe she's with Kyoko…' _she assumes, which slowly washes away the fear of the unknown from her thoughts.

'_Please let my baby be with her.' _Haru inwardly pleads before she mutters another quiet pray over her child and even Hayato.

'_I must have really hit my head hard if I thought about him.' _She scoffs to herself with a gentle shake of her head left and right.

'_Yet you can't deny the fact that you still have feelings for him.' _Her conscious reminds her as she feels the bed jerk a little.

However, her brief moment of happiness would soon become eradicated once the truth was brought to the light.


	24. Chapter 24

A expression of horror materialize on her face when a terrible thought pass through her mind about Chiharu as she feel her body suddenly become numb.

"You don't think...that someone took her?" Kyoko terrifyingly pose to her husband while the Rain Guardian stand a reasonable distance away from the couple since they share such an intimate moment.

Tsuna gently rests both of his hands on Kyoko's slender shoulders as a mean to calm her down once he notice the signs that she was about to reach a breaking point in her sanity.

"No, I can't think like that." She mutter to herself before she turn her attention on to her husband and retort, "We have to find her before Haru comes out of ICU."

Tsuna sense the desperation that was present in her eyes, which prompt him to snake his arms her petite waist, draw her closer to hm, and feel her head against his chest.

It absolutely pained his heart to watch his wife in such a distraught manner at the possibility of her best friend's daughter whereabouts remain unknown.

_'By now he should at least have found a lead.' _Tsuna assume as his wife tightens her grip around his shirt within her hands.

He briefly divert his focus away from Kyoko to Takeshi and mouth to him, "Find Hibari".

_'If anyone know the answer then I know he will.' _Tsuna silently reassure himself as he tightly cradle his wife in his arms,

0000

Chiharu suddenly stirred herself awake and slowly opened one of her eyes to see that she slept in a very comfortable bed surrounded by various teddy animals.

She gently rub the sleep out of her eyes with the side of her hands since she assume that she was in a daydream.

Sure enough nothing in the room change, which cause her to spring up from excitement at the fact that she now has her own personal bedroom.

Chiharu swiftly throw herself in the tall pile of bears while she loudly giggle at how plush and furry the creatures were when she glides her hand across them.

She slowly study the room and notice that the walls were a dark shade of pink with images of a ballerina clad in a light pink. If she were to rotate her head fast enough the ballerina appear to come to life and dance across the room.

A light pink vanity with a wooden director's chair underneath it has the word "Ballerina" in cursive against the white flap of the chair.

A full white teacup set adorn the surface of a small circular pink table, which was set up for a tea party since there were bears in two of the four seats.

Chiharu cast her sights to the bed from which she flung herself from and saw a long pink canopy dangle from the roof of the room. There different shades of pink pillows and a white comforter with pink dots and swirls that cover the bed.

She personally like the room only except for the fact that there was a lot pink instead of the other colors in the rainbow.

As Chiharu relax in the pile of animals, the door to the room open up as a bright light seep through the crack from the door. The intense light force the toddler to close her eyes until a click noise signal that the door was close and the light cease.

She idly open her eyes on to identify a familiar face that stand in front of her as she sprint toward the person with a wide smile on her face.

0000

"She's in intensive care." Shamal break the news to the silver haired male as he narrow his sights in on his pupil in order to gauge his reaction to the news.

His mind instantly replayed what the nurse had told him earlier when he asked about Haru. _"That name was thrown around a couple of times when I pass the ICU."_

"So it's true then?" Hayato mutter to himself before he lift his gaze up to his mentor and step-sister that stand in front of them.

Bianchi's eyes widen at the news since she had just arrived at the hospital not too long ago and came to check up on him.

"Oh no...do you know if she's alright?" She instantly pose to Shamal, who close his eyes and release a deep sigh.

"I don't know." Shamal gravely admit as it immediately strike a chord of grief and depression within the siblings since they were all too familiar with the workings of a hospital's Intensive Care Unit.

"What about Chiharu?" Bianchi speak up as the first voice to break away from the morose stupor.

Hayato swiftly peer up at his mentor once again while he silently pray that he would at least know some information about the little girl's location.

He scratch his cheek with his index finger and grumble to himself, "You're really making this hard."

"Do you or do you not know if she's in this hospital?" Hayato sternly inquiry when Shamal's sights resume its concentration on his pupil.

"There has been no admittance of a toddler by the name of Chiharu Miura in this hospital." Shamal relay the information he was able to acquire from the nurses about Chiharu.

_'How can no one know where she is?' _He mentally shout at two since he want to verbalize his frustration at the lack of knowledge on the subject.

Bianchi's gaze return to her silver haired brother, who display hurt and confusion until it morph in to an unreadable expression on his face.

"That means if she's not here then..." He halt in the middle of his sentence before he hop on to his feet and sprint in the direction of the Intensive Care Unit.

_'I think its time he should know the truth.' _She inwardly conclude to herself after she watch him hobble in the direction of wherever Haru was.

0000

Haru unexpectedly developed a hatred toward the color of white since it was the only color she had seen ever since she was admitted in to the hospital.

She twiddle her thumbs out of an act of anxiousness as she wait for the sight of her best friend with her little girl safely in her arms.

The doctor had informed her about a group of people that waited for her when she was unconscious in the Intensive Care Unit.

Haru automatically assume that it had to be her Vongola family while her biological family was probably in route as she waits in her hospital room.

Yet her nerves soon betray her as her only thoughts were along the lines of her dear baby girl, one of the few rays of light in her dim crabby life.

Haru happily recall all of Chiharu's firsts she experienced from her first step, first word, first birthday, and any other possible first that she was able to remember.

However, a hidden sense of guilt accompanied those memories when she reflected back on the fact that she had prevented someone else from being a part of Chiharu's life.

She then contemplated over the choices she made in her life as she peered down at her hands to see that her thumbs ceased any more movement.

Her hospital door room swing open to reveal none other than Tsuna and her best friend Kyoko, who rush over to wrap her arms around her neck.

"Haru!" Kyoko loudly cries as she gently cradle her friend's head in her bosoms while Tsuna remain a fair distant away from the two best friends.

Haru mimic Kyoko's action and clutch on to her shirt as she find comfort in a familiar presence of her best friend.

"Kyoko..." she softly mutter her friend's name against her chest as she rest her head against the middle of her chest.

"Where's Chiharu?" She finish her question of concern once she sniff up the cold and tears that stream down her face when she speak.

Kyoko's body tense up at the inquiry since she has yet to find out the answer to that question herself. She slightly lean away from Kyoko and study her best friend's tear stain face.

She did not have the heart to reveal to her that they were in the dark about the whereabouts of little Chiharu. Luckily for her, Tsuna was right there to cover for her.

"Haru..." his tone was grave along with a stern expression on his face when he address the brunette haired woman.

Haru's sights land on the current boss of the Vongola family, her former crush, when she hear him call her by her name. "Yes?"

"We don't know where Chiharu is." He inform her as her face contort to agitation as a sign that that it cause the last bit of her sanity to snap.

"What do you mean you don't know where she is?!" Haru scream out loud as she tear away from Kyoko's arms.

"She's not in the hospital." Tsuna simply answer as he attempt to maintain his serene nature as much as possible around the irate mother.

"That can't be true!" She piercingly proclaim not aware that she start to cause harm to her own body.

Haru's vitals speedily escalate at a alarming rate that cause nurses bombard the room in order to provide aid to a distress Haru. All of a sudden, she begin to wildly flail her body and arms about on the bed when they try to touch her.

"It's time to stop being selfish Haru." Tsuna calmly assert before he gravely add in "It's time to tell the truth."

0000

"Oh sir you need to come back for the rest of your treatment." A random nurse abruptly shriek as Hayato idly hobble down one of the hospital hallways while he tightly clutch his ribs.

He promptly ignore the advice from the woman as he simply continue to venture toward where Haru and possibly the others were.

On the spur of the moment, Takeshi Yamamato enter in his field of vision while the nurse attempt to convince him to return back to the emergency room for further treatment.

Hayato briefly halt in the middle of his stride and place his back against one of the hospital walls for a few seconds in order to rest.

"Takeshi..." he hiss the young man first name while he slide down the side of the wall only to be stop by his brunette haired companion.

"Where is _she_?!" Hayato quickly question when Takeshi try to sit him upright but start to struggle until the nurse wheel a wheelchair for him to sit in.

"Hayato...you need some help." Takeshi attempt to redirect the silver haired male's attention back on to what was important at the moment, his health.

"What I need for you to do is take me to where Haru is." He firmly state with such fortitude that it catch Takeshi completely off guard.

Takeshi simply stares at the young man in front of him and immediately consents to the idea with a "Fine". He provide aid to the Storm guardian as he settle him in the wheelchair.

A quiet "thank you" slip from Hayato's lips as Takeshi merely smile at the fact that he would be so adamant to the point to refuse any aid because of stubbornness. Yet whenever family or friends welfare is involve, he would unhesitatingly toss his pride aside.

0000

Chiharu happily giggle at her new playmate since their presence seem to erase the sense of loneliness that accompanies the room.

"Would you like more tea?" the individual ask with a warm smile plaster across their face as they hold a large white tea kettle over Chiharu's cup.

She nod her head forward before she hand her teacup across the room to her guest, who pour the make believe tea in to an empty cup.

"Thank you." Chiharu politely thank her companion with a similar smile on her face as she lift the rim of the cup close to her lips.

A brief silence settle in among the two within the pink room as they both simply enjoy the use of their imagination.

"Do you like your new room?" the person politely inquire as they settle the teacup on the saucer and back on to the circular pink table.

Chiharu causally glance to her left and then to her right before she quietly inquiry to her guest, "This is _my_ room?"

Her question earn a nod forward as a mean to signal to the toddler that it was indeed her very own personal room.

"Do you like it?" The guest critically study the younger girl's expression as they wait in anticipation to gauge her genuine opinion of the bedroom.

"Too much pink," she bluntly admit after she stare at the wall and look around with a serious tout of her lips and a cross of her arms.

A hearty laugh emit from the person on the opposite end of Chiharu at the expression on the little girl's face.

"I can always have someone repaint it any color that you like." The person abruptly suggest with a curt smile on their face.

This cause a wider smile to materialize on her face at the suggestion to change the color of the paint to any color of her choice.

"Thanks…"


	25. Chapter 25

'_This can't be the true!' _Haru nervously contemplate when she suddenly feel as if she could no longer breathe the air around her.

_'There is absolutely no way Tsuna-san doesn't know where my baby is?'_

A tremendous sensation of dread swiftly coursed through her body since her most reliable source of fortitude has been completely and utterly destroyed.

"Where the _hell_ is she?" Haru loudly snap at Tsuna while her chest start to rapidly rise and fall.

She narrow her sights in on the brunette haired male in front of her while Kyoko stand off to his side.

"Give me back my child!" Haru harshly demand as she tightly clench her fists constantly due to her anger.

Her ire constantly tempt her to punch him square in the face because of his nonchalant demeanor.

"We don't know where she is!" Tsuna calmly counter unaware that his attitude and tone toward his close friend continuously add fire to the flame.

His aloof manner and tone was all it took for Haru to officially snap at the fact he did not upheld his promises to protect her and her little girl.

"You're a damn liar!" She screamed before she started to grab and tug at the wires connected with her body in an attempt to free herself from the complexion maze of cables.

Sirens and alerts promptly blare out in warnings that a patient try to attempt an escape from their bed without proper care and treatment.

The nurses powerfully restrain the delusional Haru while another tediously fill a syringe with some type of clear liquid.

Kyoko watch in total horror as her best friend rants to the nurses and her husband, Tsuna, "Let me go!" "I need to find my child!" "Where's Chiharu, Tsuna?"

"What're you doing to her?" Kyoko shriek her inquiry to them as more nurses files inside of the room in order to contain the irate young woman.

A random nurse draw near them, instruct the couple to step outside, and guide the duo out in the hallway only to return back inside of the room.

Kyoko peer up at her husband's blank face, which cause her to ask, "Why did you do that?"

He exhaled a deep sigh since he knew for a guaranteed fact that his wife would surely be mad at him from the way he handled Haru.

"This is a serious situation and nothing but the truth was needed." Tsuna sternly defend once he eventually make eye contact with his wife.

"There are ways to go about disclosing the truth instead of being hard on her." Kyoko counter as she break away from his side in order to face him.

"We've already been too _delicate_ about the whole thing from the start. We have to be as honest as possible, especially since it affects…"

"Judaime and Kyoko-san," a familiar masculine voice specifically address them by monikers that only one man use toward them.

The husband and wife faces away from each other and peers over at the silver haired Storm Guardian Mafioso in a wheelchair being push by none other than Takeshi.

"I'll leave him in your care." Takeshi simply comment as he nod his head toward Tsuna before he dash down the hallway to finish his assign errand.

An eerie silence settle among the trio as Hayato cast his gaze over to the door where he assume was Haru's hospital room.

"Is she in there?" He question as he break the silence between the couple once his sights land on them once again.

Kyoko drop her mouth in order to respond but Tsuna cut her off before she could even supply an answer to Hayato's question.

"Yes." He confirm as he step in front of Kyoko when he add, "There's one thing you should know…"

"Tell me." Hayato insist as he study the rather serious expression on his face, which was quite unusual from his typical carefree expression.

Tsuna release yet another sigh while he ease his tense shoulders and break the news to his close friend. "We don't know where Chiharu is."

"Don't tell me that you told that crazy woman in their first?" Hayato nervously allege with concern written all over his face from Tsuna's tone.

Tsuna's face display the truth, which prompt him to shake his head left and right at the tact his Judaime use toward women.

"Haven't you learned anything over the years about how she react to bad news?" He harshly reprimand him with a stern expression on his face.

A scream of "No!" slip from the room once one of the nurses open the door to deliver the news to the presume family and friends.

"We gave her a mild sedative so she's going to be asleep for a little while." The nurse explain the current situation to the group as the rest of the nurses emerges from the room.

"Can I go inside?" Hayato sudenly pose to the nurse from the wheelchair as she idly turn her gaze over on to the silver haired male.

The nurse was leery to permit anyone in after the commotion that just took place so Hayato easily conjured up a believable fib. "I'm her _husband_."

The others plays along with the potential truth until the nurse seem quite convince and permit Hayato to enter inside of the room.

0000

Chiharu's curiosity expeditiously grow due to her new living arrangements and what potentially lay behind the door to her room.

Her stomach abruptly growl at her when she suddenly develop the need for food as her mind instantly register that as a suitable excuse to explore.

Chiharu's inquisitive nature fuel her desire to know what was behind the door to her room.

She slide out of one of the chairs at the tea table, amble over toward the door, and attempt to reach for the knob.

An "ah man" was mutter by the little toddler when she realize that she was too short to twist the knob to open the door.

Chiharu survey her room again until her sights land on one of the chairs at the table when her mind start to conjure up a plan.

She bobble over to the table, grab the edge of the chair, drag it over toward the door, lean it against the side length of the door, climb on to the seat, and twist the knob.

A smile materialize on her face when she hear the click and yank the door open until it was wide enough for her to slip through.

Chiharu poke her head through the crack, check left then the right end of the hallway, and slide out on to the hallway.

She happily dash as fast as her child frame stride can take her in to the unknown. Chiharu was purposely halting at corners whenever she spot a moving shadow.

To her it was like a big game of hide and go seek and if she were to get caught then she would have to return to that pink box.

Yet, Chiharu merrily continued to play along since she throughly enjoy the current taste of freedom and simply craved more.

'_This is so fun!'_ she assert as she skip down the hallway with her eyes close until she collide against something.

"Watch where the he…" a masculine deep voice hiss before his eyes travel downward to a little girl on the floor.

He silently watch her face scrunch up as if she was about to cry after she tightly clutch her face, in order to what he assume, was to ease the pain.

Chiharu abruptly bawl her precious eyes out not because of the intense pain but rather because she really miss her mother and Mister Hayato.

"Home" she choke out in the midst of her tears since this game of hide and seek was no longer fun because of the unfamiliar faces around her.

'_So this is the little brat that the boss needed to further the plans.' _The stranger ponder as he observe her throw a fit of sadness right in front of him.

'_I don't have time for this…' _he consider as he was about to leave the toddler to wallow in her grief yet there was something that root him in to place.

"I don't believe this…" the man mutter to himself as he spin around to face Chiharu, who now sniffle up the snot that dribble from her nose.

The individual squat to the young girl's level as it seem to put an end to her breakdown when she stare back at a pair of eyes.

Silence cultivate between the two since the pair were unfamiliar with each other, however it was the male that speak first.

"Hey there you …" _'Maybe I shouldn't call her a little brat…' _"…_beautiful girl_, what's your name?"

Chiharu did not immediately answer the strange man's question with her name but instead she repeat what her mother sternly warn her about strangers.

"Mommy told me never to talk to strangers."

"That's right. I am a stranger!" He eagerly agree with the idea before he suddenly burst out in a fit of laughter, which really confuse the young girl.

"My name is Satoshi." The strange man kindly introduce himself as Satoshi when he extend his hand outward to the brunette toddler.

She wipe the tears away from her eyes and the snot from underneath her nose before she gather up the strength to introduce herself, "Chiharu,"

"It's nice to meet you, Chiharu." Satoshi politely speak with a false smile present on his face.

0000

The nurse leave a wheelchair bound Hayato in the room with a semi-conscious Haru Miura in the hospital bed.

"I always knew you were a crazy woman…" he begin as he stare at the brunette haired woman in front of him. "…but this takes the cake!"

A pregnant silence develop between the two previous lovers after he recognize that she did not offer a curt remark to his declaration.

"That's right...this is not the time for jokes." Hayato say more to himself then to Haru when he divert his gaze away from her.

"I even told the nurse that I was your husband." He somberly admit as the sound of the monitors seem to serve as Haru's response in their conversation.

"To be honest, I had already forgiven you about that night a long time ago. I just didn't have the guts to admit that to you." Hayato ultimately confess.

"My drinking habit wasn't formed because of you but my body craved it as a drug to easily numb away the pain of your absence."

"Yet, no matter how strong the alcohol stung my throat it did nothing but drown my pain. It would only leave me to wake up in complete misery the next day."

"I didn't even know that Tsuna had assigned me to be your guardian. I had only found out as you arrived at the airport."

"When I saw you again after a couple of years had past, my feelings that I was about to toss aside flooded my memory banks of all the times we spent together."

"However, you brought along a mini surprise in the form of an energetic toddler by the name of Chiharu Miura."

"My heart shattered when I saw the little girl because I wanted to start a family with you after we got married. I grew furious at the thought that someone else enjoyed your company, which made me sick to my stomach."

"I tried not to think about it but instead it made me bitter and cold toward you. Even I can admit that I was being even more of a jerk toward you then."

Hayato reach out his hand until he feel her skin press against his as it sort of feel cold to the touch but sense that she was alright.

Haru's head lull over to her right when she feel skin press up against hers even in her daze state.

"Hayato…I have...to tell you something," she dryly speak as her eyelids start to feel heavy due to the medication the nurses inject in to her.


	26. Chapter 26

Takeshi nimbly slid in the backseat of one the numerous black colored standard utility vehicles that was housed in the basement of the Vongola's headquarters.

'_I shouldn't be surprised that he already had a plan ready to go.' _He silently marvels at the Cloud guardian's ability to amass the right people for any job, even though he vehemently hates crowds.

He peers over to his left only to come face to face with a teenage Lambo in the driver's seat while Ipin was in the backseat.

"Uhm…" Takeshi starts as his mind instantly registers that Lambo was behind the driver's seat, which promptly earns the reaction, "What are you doing Lambo?"

The bovine Italian leisurely cast his gaze over to his right to see that the Rain Guardian was the one who entered in on the passenger side.

"I'm driving!" He boastfully states with a confident expression on his face while he rudely addresses Takeshi.

Takashi exits from the passenger side of the vehicle, rounds the large vehicle, yanks open the driver's side and orders. "You…get in the backseat now!"

"…such a buzz kill," Lambo angrily grumbles as he slowly slides out of the driver's side so that Takeshi could easily slide in behind the driver's seat.

He obediently complies with the older male's orders when suddenly he finds himself right next to Ipin, who simply grins at his misfortune.

"Maybe next time…" Ipin teasingly reassures him with a pat on his shoulder until she feels him swat her hand away.

Lambo tucks his arms underneath his chest, rotates his head toward her and sticks his tongue out at the Chinese teenage girl.

"You should be lucky that we were allowed to join the battle." She redirects the topic of their conversation before she opts to just remain silent.

"Ipin can you keep the line open? We have to make one more stop before we meet up at the rendezvous point." Takeshi asks for a favor from Ipin as he shifts the automobile to drive before the others file in the other vehicles.

'_Where does that herbivore think he's going?' _Hibari curiously wonders before he remembers a key element to the plan.

'_You better not hold us up either.' _He inwardly concludes once he manages to deduce why Takeshi left before the others were ready.

0000

An expression of bewilderment was plastered across the silver haired Mafioso face as he attempted to process what his ex-lover divulged to him.

Her statement _"Chiharu is yours" _constantly cycles through his thoughts as if he has his favorite song stuck on replay.

"Are you serious?" Hayato inquisitively probed when he peered up and watched as Haru succumb to the powerful medicine that she was subjected to take due to her crazed outbursts from earlier.

He was so lost in his muddled thoughts about being thrown into fatherhood that he did not hear the room door open and close.

Kyoko tugs on one of her husband's sleeve in order to halt him when she asks him, "Do you think she told him yet?"

Tsuna swiftly cuts his gaze away from his wife to his silver haired Storm guardian, who gingerly cradles Haru's hands within his very own.

"Even if she didn't, it is still time to reveal the truth." He sternly states after he returns his sights back on to his concern wife.

She briefly hesitates for a moment before she finally advances her head forward to physically show that she agrees with the idea.

Tsuna carefully approached the young man since his honed instincts to kill could unexpectedly emerged so he addressed him, "Gokudera-kun…"

The silver haired male slowly rotates his head in the direction of the source since it sounds awfully familiar to him.

It was at that moment did Tsuna witnesses one of his strongest guardians at his weakest points as his bold green eyes were now a glassy hue.

He inhales and exhales a long breath, gathers his resolve, clears his throat, gathers his resolve, and starts to speak, "What Haru said is true."

"You are Chiharu's biological father." Tsuna firmly states with a stern expression on his face when Hayato's bewilderment begin to falter to confusion.

"The reason why she left Japan was because she was scared. She just followed her natural instincts and ran off with her parents."

"At the time, she was impregnated by you and carried Chiharu through a full term pregnancy while she was in school."

"She's really _mines_." He shockingly utters to himself as disbelief materializes on his face as he splays one of his hands across his mouth.

Hayato drops his fingers from his mouth and inquires, "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"It was not my place to reveal such _delicate _information when we were sworn to complete secrecy by Haru." He guilty admits to his close friend.

Out of nowhere, Tsuna's cellphone vibrates in a dot dot dash fashion that signals to him that he receives a message from a Vongola family member.

He fishes inside one of his pants pocket, produces the electronic device, presses the open button and reads the text.

"You want to see _your _daughter, right?" Tsuna poses to his Storm guardian as his head snaps in the direction of his boss.

"Takeshi is downstairs right now with a car." He mentions to his companion, which seems to encourage the young man to forget about his injuries.

0000

"Tower five should be around here somewhere…" Bianchi mutters to herself as she captains the group in the direction of where she assumes was tower five.

As a couple of seconds pass by the quad encountered a staggered Hayato, who clutched his ribs from the sheer pain that shoot throughout his body.

"Hayato!" Bianchi exasperates once she lays eyes on her younger brother, which causes him to rotate his head in the direction.

"Shamal…I need a really _strong _pain reliever right now." Hayato demanded when he realized that he was surrounded by Bianchi, Shamal, along with Mr. and Mrs. Miura.

"You know my policy…I don't provide medicine treatment to _men_." He harshly stated as he intensely stared down at his previous disciple.

"Shamal…clearly he's in serious pain!" Bianchi snaps at the older man, who merely tucks his arms in front of his chest with a stern expression present on his face.

"I didn't want you to do it for me…" Hayato loudly spoke up since he already knew he was going to be instantly turned down if he directly asked for himself.

"Do it for _my _daughter." He proudly begs as his eyes really display sincerity and honesty when he asks his question.

Shamal cocks an eyebrow up, slides his hands inside of his pockets, and shifts his weight to the opposite foot.

"I'm so happy that she finally told you." Mrs. Miura honestly admits as a genuine smile stretches across her face after she hears what Hayato just admits to the group.

Bianchi briefly stares at her younger brother before she suddenly casts her gaze back in the direction of the doctor.

"Here…" he aimlessly tosses a silver packet toward Hayato, who gently catches the item within his palms. "…you have a three hour limit. Go overboard and you will kill yourself."

Hayato graciously accepts the pill, rips the seal, pops the pill inside of his mouth, swallows it whole and waits for the effects to kick in.

0000

"How's it going in there, doc?" Satoshi questions after he draws near an individual clad in a white lab coat, who sits in front of numerous high definition television screens.

The individual types away at a keyboard, twists a dial to the right, and replies, "I wanted to see if the patient's flame productivity will be higher if she is either conscious or unconscious."

Satoshi looks up at the screen that captures the brunette toddler within an enormous rectangular prism glass box with golden trims on the edges.

'_So that's what the boss has in plan for that little brat.' _He concludes once he realizes what his boss plan was for the little girl.

"It appears as if the patient is conscious and aware of her surroundings as she searches around the box." The individual speaks in a microphone as a means to record the results of the experiment.

Meanwhile,

Chiharu curiously peers around at her new surroundings when she realizes that she was in something that resembles a box.

She glances up and notices a small circular hole in the ceiling of the box that connects to a pipe.

'_There are no toys.' _Chiharu morosely notes as she visibly pouts and gingerly rests her back against the glass.

A wave of fatigue slowly washes over her body as her eye lids heavily drop while her head idly lulls left and right.

'_Why am I so tired?' _she wonders as she rubs her eyes with the side of her hands before she drops her arm to her side.

"Momma…" Chiharu quietly utters as she slouches until one side of her body lays flat against the surface of the box.

"…_where are you?_"

0000

"Has there been any communications from the others yet, Ipin?" Takeshi poses to the Chinese girl, who manages their communication line between the others.

Ipin lifts her hand to the side of her ear, where the earpiece rests inside of her ear, and listens in for any of the codenames.

"There has been no talk between the lines." She responses as it sends a wave of relief through Takeshi as he avoids traffic.

"Lambo-san wonders where we are going." Lambo inquires about their future destination as he watches them pass by cars.

Takeshi ignores the teenage boy question and instead focuses in on the cars in front, to the side, and behind him as he speeds toward the hospital.

"Why are we at the hospital?" Ipin curiously wonders as Takeshi halts the vehicle in front of the hospital.

Takeshi breaks his concentration from his cellphone toward Ipin when he answers, "There is one more person that we need to pick up."

"No one is more important than me, the great Bovino Lambo-san!" Lambo happily self-proclaims as he roughly jabs his thumb against his chest.

"You're loud as always you _stupid cow_!" a familiar voice complains after the passenger side door flies open.

Ipin and Lambo eyes land on a familiar person once he settles himself in the passenger seat. "Gokudera-kun!" "Stupidera!"

"It's good to see you two, too!" He greets them with a small smile before he directs his attention on to the driver.

"I see that Dr. Shamal treated your wounds." Takeshi assumes since Hayato seems back to his normal healthy state.

A brief hesitation develops from Hayato, who face seems to conflict with whether or not he should reveal the truth to his friend.

"The others have arrive at the designated

"You better floor it, baseball freak! I need to go get _my _daughter!" Hayato abruptly commands as he straps himself in the seat belt.

A grin materializes on Takeshi's face after he hears Hayato's resolve and guns the engine to the vehicle.


	27. Chapter 27

"Hey Boss!" Satoshi loudly shouts at the top of his lungs after he idly sticks his head inside of the office space.

"I am already aware of the fact that the Vongola family has finally arrived at our very own front door steps." The boss calmly reassures their typical loud subordinate as they slowly rotate toward him.

The boss advances forward until they were face to face with Satoshi when they suggest, "Let's be polite to our guests and show them how hospitable we can be."

"Understood, boss," Satoshi cheerfully agrees to the idea before he speedily departs from his boss side to assume his position so he can dutifully defends the family.

The boss settles in on the plush black leather chair, reaches out for the land-line phone, dials a phone number, waits after the first ring and orders, "Expedite the fountain of youth extraction."

A "humph" emits from the boss mouth after they return the phone back on to the hook, laces their fingers together and rests it against their lips.

'_By the time they reach the foyer…I will have all of the necessary amount of power to fulfill the goal.' _The boss mentally assumes with a confident smile presently on their face.

0000

A loud "screech" slices through the rather serene scenery as the driver and its passengers hop out of the vehicle once it was in park.

"Sorry about the wait, Kyoya-san." Takashi hastily apologizes to the dark haired male once he quickly approaches him along with three others family members.

"Don't apologize. I see you went to pick up yet another herbivore?" He questions once he peeks over Takashi's shoulder only to spot the silver haired Storm Mafioso draws closer.

Hayato slightly releases some of his anger out on his fellow comrade when he honestly expresses, "Watch your damn mouth cloud boy. My little girl is in there!"

Hibari quietly releases a "humph" before he promptly follows up with, "…so someone finally told you the truth."

"Better now than later!" He snaps at the Cloud guardian before he directs the conversation back to what was important. "So what's the plan on getting _my _daughter?"

Hibari, Takashi and Hayato eventually rotate their head in the direction of the Victorian style mansion that sits before them.

"They already know we are here." Takashi suddenly reveals after he critically narrows his sights in on the movement throughout the mansion.

"I got the blueprints that you need." Ryohei calmly claims before he gingerly hands over the map to the raven haired male.

"Senpai" Takashi politely greets the silver haired male while Hayato jokingly addresses him by "Lawn head".

He simply nods his head as a mean to acknowledge the other two while Hibari swiftly unrolls the map and carefully studies the layout.

"I need one group to be able to quickly and quietly mobilize through heavily guard areas." Hibari states before Ryohei approaches the group with yet another item in his hand.

"I'll go!" Hayato abruptly volunteers for the position since he personally feels that he was the perfect person for that part in the plan.

"We can't risk the fact to let the enemy become aware that you are Chiharu's father, herbivore." Hibari quells that idea before he explains to the irate silver haired, "It has to be Yamato-san since his two guardians will triple the area that can be covered."

Takashi feels Hayato suddenly glares at him after he hears the denial of his request, which silently places him on edge.

"I won't do it unless you really want to take my spot." He offers since he only feels that it was right for Hayato to have that job.

A brief hush settles over the guardians as they exchange look, specifically toward the Storm Guardian since there was someone special to him on the inside.

"No…" Hayato eventually breaks the silence between his comrades, casually peers over in Takashi's direction, and honestly admits, "…my specialty lies in causing as much damage as I possibly can while your is much covert."

Takashi simply nods and speedily advances forward until he was by Hibari's side, where he instantly proceeds to rapidly point out the path he needs to utilize.

After he receives his instructions, Takashi departs from the left of Hibari and was about to travel behind the row of black vehicles when a voice halts him, "Baseball freak…"

"I am entrusting my daughter's life in your hands!"

"You can trust me." Takashi reassures him with his famous gentle smile before he dashes toward where he needs to be.

'_I probably have two hours and fifty minutes left before this pill wears off.' _He predicts unaware that Hibari continues to dish out orders to the other guardians. "Do what you are good at herbivore."

"Enough talk…I hate crowds." He calmly states as it serves as his verbal signal to dismiss the troops in order for them to execute their assign tasks.

0000

The sound of the door swings open and close, which captures the attention of the husband and wife that were present in the room.

"Bianchi, I see you found Haru's parents." Kyoko mentions once her eyes settle in on the Miuras that draw near their unconscious daughter.

Bianchi ignores the orange haired woman's statement and instead narrows her sights in on Kyoko's husband.

"You know this is partially your fault." She angrily asserts to the young man after he promptly removes himself from Haru's side so her parents can sit next to her.

"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think that I feel solely responsible for this? Don't you think that I know that I should be the main one out there trying to help rescue Chiharu?" He irritably counters with a solemn expression on his face as his speaks.

'_This is probably my first time I've ever seen him make such a face.' _Shamal considers as he could sense the maturity in Tsuna's aura or better yet his flame.

Shamal lifts one of his hands until it connects with one of Bianchi's shoulders as a means to capture her focus and advises her, "How about we stop with the blame game and find Chiharu."

Once again Bianchi simply ignores the comments since she was completely angry that her now only known niece could be in some very serious trouble.

"Why don't you just try to remain calm?" He calmly suggests to the group, specifically to Bianchi and Tsuna.

"I think this hospital has had more than enough with this family fair share of mishap and commotion, wouldn't you agree?" He jokingly revels at the rambunctious reputation the Vongola Family has develops ever since it has been under Tsunayoshi's care.

His gentle words seem to slightly curb the intense ire that was present on Bianchi's face before she retreats from the hospital room.

"Can you really blame her for her anger being directed at me?" Tsuna promptly speaks up once Hayato's lone older sibling leaves the room.

"I did hold a secret from my right hand man about the fact that he has a little girl and now someone has kidnapped her. What kind of man have I become?" He inquisitively questions his actions as his facial expression displays every single last emotion he feels at the moment.

"You are a young man, who is still learning about the Mafia world ins and outs without too much aid from your cheat sheet." Shamal partially jokes but also genuinely confesses the truth.

Tsuna peers up at the slightly taller man after he processes what he just says to him and accepts the advice from his senior.

"Don't get cheeky brat! I still only treat women." He promptly reminds him as he aimlessly tousles the younger man's locks with one of his hands.

A playful smile stretches across his face since it has been a very long time that he has had a moment to act childish.

"I know but thanks still." Tsuna kindly thanks the older man out of the two for a sense of guidance during this time of confusion.

'_Nevertheless, I still have the utmost faith in those guys to get the job done.' _Tsuna solidifies his resolve about his family, which causes his orange flame to suddenly sprout from his ring.

0000

'_Just hold on a little while longer Chiharu.' _Hayato thinks as he clenches one of his fists when a large red flame emits from his ring and jams it inside of a grey cubical shape box.

A beam of red light emanates from the box before it materializes in the form of a white cat with a yellow triangle down the middle of its forehead and yellow on its hind legs. It looks like any other normal cat except it has red eyes and red Storm flames emits from its ears.

The cat shifts in to a position of attack until it peers up at its owner's face to see a rather serious expression present on his face.

"Uri," the owner calls it by its name as he squats to the cat's level while he speaks.

A "meow" signifies to Hayato that he has acquire the cat's concentration when he speaks, "Not too long ago, I found out that there is a little girl by the name of Chiharu is my daughter. She is inside of that building right there. I am going to need for you to work with me."

A nod of the head and a firm "meow" were the only physical gestures Hayato searches for whenever he needs Uri's approval on a ceasefire between the two in order to combat a much larger problem at hand.

'_I need to maximize as much damage as possible.' _He recalls before he channels his energy in to another ring, which produces a yellow flame.

"Eat up Uri!" Hayato says as he feeds the bright yellow flame to the cat, who begins to increase in size until it was twice his size.

He glances over in Hibari's direction and notices a plethora of spiked purple hedgehogs that seems to explode on impact against the mansion.

"Let's do this Uri!" Hayato loudly shouts to the cat as the pair speedily advances toward the Victorian mansion front yard.

0000

"Chiharu," a familiar feminine voice calls out to the toddler as she struggles to open her eyes only to be blind by the sun's bright rays of light.

"Open your eyes dear," the voice softly instructs as a soft hand gently grazes across her forehead as an attempt to encourage her to wake up.

She opens her eyes to see a woman with a fair complexion and short brown hair leans over her, which shields her eyes from her.

"Mama," Chiharu inquisitively questions before she soothingly rubs her fists across her eyes in order to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

A gentle smile stretches across her face at the name until her mother's eyes peek out from underneath her bang.

Chiharu unexpectedly jolts awake from her slumber and slowly checks out her surroundings once again.

She then realized that she was no longer trapped inside of the large rectangular glass prism as it was now shattered in to smaller pieces.

"Crawl out of the box." Her mother's voice suddenly instructs her out of the blue, which slightly scares but comforts her at the same time.

Chiharu, as the obedient child she was taught to be, decided to follow the voice's orders and crawled out of the box.

"Good girl," her mother's voice congratulates her on following the directions before she issues out another set of instructions, "Open the door. Follow the bird."

The door was slightly ajar so she can easily slips her fingers through the crack, gently draws the door back, stealthily steps across the threshold, and actively searches for a bird.

A few seconds briefly passes when suddenly a blue swallow swiftly veers around the corner before it nimbly lands on her shoulder.

The bird happily chirps at her presence before it instantly emanates a blue flame and purposely illuminates the girl's body with its light.

A wave of relaxation washed over her and calmed her fears when she thought about her mother again, which brought forth happy thoughts.

'_I'm going home.'_


	28. Chapter 28

Takeshi speedily sprinted down the pathway that Hibari had directly pointed out to him on the map and mentally committed it to memory.

'_I wonder what's going on outside?' _He ponders to himself since he is completely blind to what currently goes on outside because he was presently inside of the mansion.

At that moment, Takeshi suddenly senses Chiharu's presence due to his mental connection with one of his box weapons, Kojirou.

'_She's alright, good! Now all I have to do is get to her before any of the enemy can.' _He inwardly considers.

The floor roughly shakes underneath his feet yet his path never changes and his footsteps remain steady and firm.

'_I'm not going to let Gokudera-san down again!'_ Takashi weighs to himself before he rounds the corner of a hallway.

He leaps over a pile of rubble, lands on his two feet, dashes forward and hopes,_ 'Just wait a little longer for me Chiharu.'_

Takeshi mentally connects with his other Vongola box animal in order to quickly relay a set of new orders to it. '_Jioru…Kojirou has found Chiharu. Follow my scent unless you locate either Chiharu's or my scent first.'_

'_Alright…let's get in and get out.' _he asserts to both Kojirou and Jirou before he receives the signal that they both understand the new set of instructions for the plan.

0000

Hayato speedily lights numerous dynamites and aimlessly catapults them in the direction of the front entrance of the Victorian style mansion.

"Uri!" he loudly shouts out for his Storm flame companion before he waits for the oversize cat to approach him in the midst of their assault.

Hayato withdraws a white container that has two circular shapes that resembles a pair of eyes, unscrews the caps off, and slips the contacts on to the surface of his eyes.

He suddenly peers upward just in time to spot the large animal directly at his side, which he swiftly mounts on to the back of the cat.

Hayato summons from the Sistemia CAI multiple circles, compose of small bone part with a screen in the middle, before he charges the shield with his Storm flames.

'_This will provide us with some coverage while I evaluate the situation.' _He deliberates to himself while he analyzes the battlefield via his contacts.

'_For us to have done so much damage…I don't see any of the results.' _Hayato reasons as the sound of something collides against his shield surfaces him from his thoughts.

His eyes abruptly catches a glimpse of the ever so calm and compose Hibari Kyoya, however his current stance visibly says that there was a problem.

'_He must have noticed it too.' _Hayato assumes before he guides Uri in the direction of where the 10th Cloud Guardian stands.

"Kyoya-san…" he politely addresses him by his name when he was promptly cut off by the raven-haired male, "Shut up herbivore…there's an illusionist nearby."

His sudden revelation about a Mist flame user causes Hayato to think, _'I had figured as much.'_

"Maximum Ingram," Ryohei calls out the name of his attack follow with, "…to the extreme" , which breaks Hayato away from his thoughts just in time to see a beam of yellow flames fire toward the door and collides against a force field.

"So that is the reason why the front door didn't just fly open?" He rhetorically inquires to himself as he closely hones in on the door with his contacts.

'_That's it!' _Hayato undergo a sudden epiphany about a new plan that he develops after he watches Ryohei hit the barrier with his flames.

"Lawn head!" he yells out to his fellow comrade in arms and waits until he captures his full on attention when he asks, "What?"

Hayato swiftly signals for him to draw closer to them in order to properly explain to him what was presently going on.

"We've been throwing everything we got at this place but there are no signs of any damage." He discloses to him, which causes Ryohei to face the mansion.

"I did feel something was weird." Ryohei honestly admits after he immediately returns his focus on to his silver haired comrade.

"We need to regroup and make a new plan then." He quickly suggested since their initial part of the plan would have to be completely altered now.

Hayato shakes his head in a "no" fashion before he says to him, "I'm going to use a Flame Arrow coated in a Rain flame."

"The Rain flames tranquil effect should lower the construction from the Mist Flame and the disintegration from my Storm flames will erode the barrier." He further explains.

Ryohei nods his head to show that he agrees with the idea as he stands back and watches as Hayato lights one of the Bone Loops with the Rain flame and produces his Flame Arrow on his arm.

He then aims the skull's head at the center of one of the Bone Loops and loads a stick of dynamite in the opposite skull's mouth.

"Flame Arrow!" Hayato fires off a beam of red flames in to the center, which coats the attack with a blue colored flame.

A "whoa" emits from Ryohei at the sheer magnitude of the force that the attack had on the barrier as it fizzles away.

Hibari swiftly advances forward when he suddenly notices that the barrier slowly regenerates itself, which prompts the other two to closely trail behind him.

The trio easily bypasses the barrier before it could even finally recover from he damage that it receives from Hayato's assault.

"Whoa…what is this place?" Ryohei wonders as the three of them stand in the middle of what appears to be a grandiose foyer accompany with an oversize multi-layer circular diamond chandelier that dangles from a long golden chain in the middle of the room.

"I am so glad that the honored guests of the hour have finally made it inside." A voice unexpectedly speaks up and instantly captures their attention.

"My name is…"

0000

Tsuna unconsciously stares at his cellphone until his wife gently shakes him until he wakes up from his daze stupor.

"Tsu-kun," she addresses him by her personal moniker and watches as he surfaces himself from his own innermost thoughts.

"Yes, what is it Kyoko-chan?" he politely inquires to his wife unaware that he was lock in intense concentration on his cellular device.

A calm smile stretches across her face after she studies the apparent concern on his face when she asks him her question.

"You were staring at your phone for the last fifteen minutes." Kyoko reveals to him what he is doing, which earns a funny facial expression on his face.

"I was?" he shockingly asks as she simply nods her head up and down to show that he really stares at his phone.

"I guess that what comes with Hyper Intuition…a lot of worry and concern." She summarizes the feelings that he presently feels at the moment.

Tsuna nods a "yes" to confirm that his wife's guess hits right on the mark but then again he is not at all surprise since she is sensitive to these kind of things as well.

"You know that _they _are strong enough to handle the situation without you having to be there right." Kyoko asserts to her frantic husband.

He then shakes his head a "no" before he claims, "It is not them I am worried for it's the end result of their battle that has me a little frighten."

"…and what might that be?" She inquisitively poses to Tsuna, who hastily casts his sights down on to the floor.

Kyoko knew that the change in Tsuna was a usual one but the gloom expression that now plagues his face places her on pins and needs.

"If I speak on it then it may come in to existence." He forewarns her as he maintains his gaze on to the hospital floor.

She then decides that it would best if she did not probe any further since she develops this ominous sensation after she processes her husband's statement.

0000

Chiharu closely trails behind the sparrow that purposely flies at her eye level so she would never lose track of it within her sights.

She giggles and claps at the bird as it distracts her by doing aerial tricks that defy gravity and even chirps a melodic tone that further soothes her frantic nerves.

Chiharu advances as fast as her stubby little legs could take her when an image of her mother motivates her to keep going.

A "mommy" leaves her lips when she notices that the bird halts and proceeds to hoover in mid-air as it wings continue to flap in order to maintain flight.

She grows really quiet until a shadow speedily passes by her only to abruptly skid to a halt and immediately faces her.

"Chiharu?" a familiar masculine voice calls out her name as she hesitates to move forward until the bird does.

"It's me…Uncle Takeshi." The voice reveals his identity to the little girl when the bird chirps to capture its respective owner's attention.

"Ah there you are!" he happily claims as he eventually steps in to the light, which brightly shines on his face to show that it really is Takeshi.

Her heart jumps for joy as she dashes to the brunette, wraps her small arms around his long legs and starts to weep tears of happiness at the familiar face.

"There…there…everything's going to be alright." Takeshi comforts her with a gentle pat on top of her head before he squats to her level.

Kojirou then nestles itself on top the toddler's mop of hair and chirps out what sounds to be a message to Takeshi.

"Good work, Kojirou!" he thanks the sparrow for its gallant effort and bravery before he flies back inside of his respective box.

Takashi swiftly adjusts the strap of his katana from across one of his shoulders to around his waist so he could easily carry Chiharu on his back.

"Upsy daisy…" he jokes after he lifts and secures the little girl on to his back as she tightens her hold around his neck from the sudden movement.

"How about I take you back to your mommy? Would you like that?" Takeshi politely inquires to the little girl on his back, who simply confirms her participation with a nod of her head.

'_Jirou should be at the interception point within a couple of seconds.' _He says to himself before he sprints back down the way he just runs.

'_I hope everything else is going as smoothly as my retrieval did.' _Takeshi hopefully prays for no casualties on both sides from the assault.

0000

The 10th Cloud, Storm, and Sun guardian stand in the midst of the enemy's stronghold as they critically study their new surroundings.

"I am so glad that my honored guests have finally made it inside." An unfamiliar voice unexpectedly rings in their ears, which instantly captures their attention.

"My name is…Satoshi and it will be my utmost pleasure to be killing you gentlemen today." Satoshi politely introduces himself from his conceal location.

"What kind of man hides in the shadow? Do your proper introduction in person." Ryohei criticizes the lack of manliness that the man portrays.

Hayato shakes his head at Lawn head and considers, _'Whether it maybe a comrade or a foe this idiot still wants to have a show of manhood properly done.'_

Satoshi chuckles at the Sun guardian's accusation before he mentions, "I see that the rumors about the Juudaime guardians are quite true…"

He steps forward from the darkness and in to the light when he declares, "…you are insanely powerful. This play date should be rather fun, no?"


	29. Chapter 29

"Why aren't we allowed to help?" Lambo verbally complains as I-Pin and him remain on the outside while the main force penetrates through the barrier.

She slaps him in the back of his head with the palm of her hand, which earns a "Hey what was that for?" from the young men.

"If you were really paid attention then you would understand why we were instructed to stay put." I-Pin asserts as the bovine hitman rubs his head to dull the pain.

Lambo grumbles to himself while his mind recall the plan of attack, _**"I-Pin and Lambo, we need you to stay out here once Takeshi is able to secure Chiharu."**_

"_**From that point until we return to headquarters, you two are responsible for the safety of Chiharu." Hibari issues them their specific orders for the mission.**_

"_**You better not mess this up you stupid cow or I will really kill you this time." Hayato angrily bellows as he roughly jabs his index finger in to his chest.**_

"_**As if octopus head could…" I-Pin nimbly shoots her hand out in order to cover Lambo's mouth when she dutifully remarks, "You can trust her with us." **_

"_**It would probably be best to take her back to the mansion since the hospital could be attacked too." Ryohei assumes about the possibility of the transport to the hospital.**_

"_**Once you finally have her immediately call the 10**__**th**__** and tell him to quickly transport everyone back to headquarters and patiently wait until we finish up here." Hibari wraps up what was left of their roles in the plan.**_

"I guess now you remember what our role is?" She inquisitively questions as she closely studies his face while she verbally speaks.

He swiftly composes himself, dramatically strikes his signature pose, and boastfully states, "Yep and I, the great Lambo, will be the driver!"

The sound of keys jiggle captures his focus when I-Pin cleverly retorts, "How can you drive something when you don't have a license or the car keys to?"

Lambo once again grumbles at his misfortune and how no one thinks he can contribute to anything. "Yeah, whatever you are still not important."

She simply shakes her head at how he easily retains his childish personality even after all of the crazy events that they survive while being in the Vongola family.

"You should at least have a little bit more confidence in yourself Lambo…you are one of Tsuna-nii guardians, the Lightning Guardian."

I-Pin was just about to provide further comfort to her childhood friend when she overhears a familiar voice shouts at her.

"Start the car!" Takeshi loudly shouts at the top of his lungs as he swiftly sprints the distance that separates him from the car.

'_How quickly do you tend to forget that your role is to draw damage to himself and away from the rest of the Famiglia?' _She conceives while she opens and slides in to the driver's seat.

The "bang" noise on the hood signals to I-Pin that Chiharu was finally in the hands of her family, where she originally belongs. He watches as the young Chinese woman reverses, shifts in to drive, swings the SUV around and speeds off in the direction of the Vongola's headquarters.

"I wonder what's going on inside?" Takeshi quietly contemplates to himself once he easily retraces his step since the barrier did not completely surround the mansion.

'_I guess I will find out once I get there.' _He concludes while he readjusts his katana strap back on to his shoulder.

0000

Hayato, Ryohei, and Hibari intensely stare down their enemy, who simply flashes them a very maniacal grin present on his face.

"So who is going to be my first opponent?" he cockily inquires as he leisurely assumes his battle stance while he casually sizes up the three options in front of him.

"I don't see his weapon." Hayato points out to his comrades as his left hand rests around his hip in anticipation of Satoshi's next move.

Ryohei's eyes carefully studies their new surroundings and inquisitively ponders, "Do you think it could be somewhere in this room?"

"It has to be. His flames has to have a medium in order for him to use it." Hibari irritably reminds them as his focus directly remains on Satoshi.

"I really hate illusionists." He grumbles to himself when he feels his level of irritation reach beyond the maximum limit.

Ryohei and Hayato immediately sense the "to kill" intent from the Cloud guardian toward their opponent and notices how tightly he grips his tonfas from annoyance.

"He's all yours then Kyoya-san." Ryohei confidently speaks up for the both of them as the two silver haired males simultaneously execute a step backwards.

'_Oh…is this the person that I will be facing?' _he inwardly wonders to himself since the other two unexpectedly move away from the one on the left.

"I take it you want to be the first one to die." Satoshi coyly chides before he suddenly defends a head on attack from the raven haired fighter.

"Well I have absolutely no complaints about a headstrong warrior then." he compliments him with the same smile present on his face.

"Shut up herbivore." Hibari grumbles as he continues to gauge his opposition's reflexes once he separates himself from the male in front of him.

"An herbivore," Satoshi curiously questions before he jokingly remarks, "That's a first even for me."

He merely blocks his kick with one of his tonfas and easily pushes him back on to the steps before he immediately begins his assault on the man.

"You just might have sparked my interest." He expresses his utmost delight in the fact that he is able to discover a strong fighter.

"You talk too much." Hibari irritably utters as he brands his "fangs" at the man, who absolutely talks too much during their fight.

This prompts a quip from Satoshi once they break apart from each other again, "You talk too little."

"Satoshi…" another unknown voice suddenly speaks up and abruptly distracts him away from the three.

0000

"Here," Shamal speaks up as he hands Bianchi a Styrofoam cup fill with coffee, which she gladly thanks him and graciously accepts the cup of Joe.

"You've been rather calm about the situation." He mentions as she brings the rim of the cup to her lips and feels the hot steam from the brown liquid.

She removes it from her lips to provide a response, "I may be calm on the outside but on the inside I am a complete ball of nerves."

'_A woman steeped in the bloody history of one of the world's most infamous mafia…the Poison Scorpion Bianchi.'_

"I am rather envious of you." Shamal utters as he pops the top of his can tea and sips on it for a few seconds.

This prompts Bianchi to peek up at him through her bangs in order to pose the question, "Why?"

"You always have family around you no matter where you are. I know you know what regrets feel like in our line of business yet I never regret being Hayato's teacher." He honestly admits with his eyes purposely away from the woman to his left.

She studies his face a little while longer before she returns her sights back to what was in front of her.

'_That's right…he doesn't have an actual family.' _Bianchi weighs to herself as she takes a sip from her coffee to see if it is warm.

'_Nope…not yet,' _

"I have a niece who I barely knew snatched away from our hands as if she was some damaged toy that needed to be returned to the store." She expresses her anger about the situation.

He takes another swig of the cool liquid before he calmly asserts to her, "She is rather lucky don't you think?"

Bianchi raise an eyebrow at the older male's comment, "Chiharu is born in to a loving family with a slew of strong uncles who will always protect her from any hurt, harm or danger."

"Plus she has an aunt who is highly apt in espionage so she can eliminate any nuisances that bothers or upset her."

"Not to mention that she has an uber powerful godfather, who just so happens to be appoint as the head of Japan's strongest mafia family."

"Chiharu has absolutely nothing to worry about." Shamal confidently reassures Bianchi with a very confident smile on his face.

One of his hands jump from sudden contact, which prompts the doctor to peek down at the source only to see that the hand belongs to Bianchi.

"Thanks…"

0000

I-Pin speedily maneuvers through the traffic on the street while Lambo constantly peeks in the backseat in order to thoroughly check up on Chiharu.

'_She seems rather calm even after all that has happen to her.' _He notes once he settles back in to the passenger seat and stares out of the window at the blurry images that they pass by on their way back to headquarters.

"You have been quiet for a while now. What's on your mind?" She curiously poses with her eyes directly on the road in front of her.

He rolls his eyes at his companion's question since she develops the knack to ask the right questions at the wrong time.

"I was just wondering why the enemy would even be kidnapping a defenseless child?"

"Age doesn't matter in the mafia. Once you are in the mafia then you are always mafia." I-Pin solemnly admits as she sharply veers the truck around a

"We were her age too when we first saw combat matter of fact you would go out on your own often. Tsuna-nii nearly died from the false scares you put him through." She reminds him about their past.

"I never thought…" Lambo utters before I-Pin interjects "Lambo, you have the potential to be one of the best hitman in the world but your lack of confidence will ultimately impede your growth."

"You should have confidence but not arrogance. I am sure you haven't figured out the difference yet but I do hope you do." She expresses her hopes for the young man that sits off to her right.

Chiharu quietly sits in the backseat with the seat belt tightly across her small frame and casually observes the adults in front of her.

'_Is this the family that mother always talks about?' _She ponders to herself when she recalls the pictures that her mother would often show her.

Chiharu remembers the faces in front of her, except they were about her size maybe even smaller then she is.

_**"The third most promising young assassin from China, I-Pin.**** She is extremely studious and has excellent work ethics too. She also happens to **__**make excellent Gyoza buns but you can't really quite eat them or you will pass out. Then there is Lambo, a boy with the heart of gold but easily cries over the smallest thing."**_

_**She points at a little girl with a long black pigtail that stems from the top of her head, clad in a red kimono with white cuffs, black kimono pants and white slippers.**_

_**Haru then drags her finger over to a little boy with a big Afro, two yellow horns and a cow outfit with bright bold green eyes.**_

"_**Are these my uncles and aunts too?" Chiharu curiously poses to her mother, who simply closes the photo album.**_

"_**Not really, I would say that they would be more of your cousins. Do you understand?" she directs to her little daughter, who nods her head to show that she understands.**_

"_**Hopefully one day you will be able to meet them…soon." Haru mutters to herself unaware that Chiharu hears every single last word. **_

The vehicle comes to a complete stop, which surfaces the toddler out of her thoughts when she swears she sees a white owl fly through her memories while she was inside of the mansion.

She peeks up to see that the two adults swiftly remove themselves from in front of the car and the one that resembles a cow, Lambo, gently scoops her up in his arms.

"Welcome back home, chīsana ichi. (**A/N: "little one**")"


End file.
